Chinese UAV/UCAV development

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Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
Chinese military to procure suicide drones
By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/11 22:13:40

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A CH-901 suicide drone developed by China is on display at an exhibition. Photo: Screenshot from China Central Television

The Chinese military is procuring two types of loitering munitions, also known as suicide drones, a genre of weapon that can offer a wide variety of new tactics to the troops, analysts said on Wednesday.

The military is procuring two different types of loitering munitions, according to a statement released on weain.mil.cn, the Chinese military's weapon and equipment procurement website, on Monday.

No further details were given about the procurement, including the specifics on the weapons' performance or number to be purchased, as the procurement is listed as confidential.

This genre of weapon is considered a mixture of a cruise missile and a drone, reported Weihutang, a column on military affairs affiliated with China Central Television, on Tuesday.

After taking off, it can remain in the air for an extended period of time for battlefield reconnaissance and surveillance like a drone, but after locating a target, it can launch a suicide attack like a missile, according to Weihutang.

Some types of suicide drones can return to base for future deployment if they do not find a target, Weihutang said.

Suicide drones can provide a wide variety of tactics, with the most useful being attacking time-sensitive targets, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on Wednesday.

It can fly to a general area in advance, seek its target while waiting, and attack immediately when it finds the target, the expert said, noting that a missile will need time to launch and travel, which could result in missing the opportunity, and the suicide drone is also cheaper than an armed reconnaissance drone.

Launching the suicide drone in advance also means that the enemy will have a harder time locating where it was launched from, the expert said.

Chinese arms companies have already developed many types of suicide drones, including the CH-901 and WS-43.

The CH-901 is 1.2 meters long, weighs nine kilograms, has a top speed of 150 kilometers an hour, an operation radius of 15 kilometers and an endurance of 120 minutes, while the WS-43 can be launched from a rocket launcher, has a range of 60 kilometers and can then stay above its target for 30 minutes, Chinese aviation news website cannews.com.cn reported in 2016.
 

by78

General
Chinese UCAVs at UMEX in Abu Dhabi.

Here's that Blowfish UCAV again.
Takeoff weight: 38kg
Payload: 12kg
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A coaxial mini-UAV from Beijing General Aviation and Jiangxi Helicopter.
Takeoff Weight: 0.8kg
Payload: 0.2kg
Endurance: 30 minutes
Range: 1km
49654420702_b260aa178f_o.jpg


Flying Dragon MALE UCAV
Takeoff weight: 3200kg
Total Payload: 1500kg
Underwing hardpoints: 6
Wingspan: 20.4m
Endurance: 45h
Ceiling: 8000m
49654418392_50e0e7a18a_o.jpg
 
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by78

General
FWH-300 UCAV
Takeoff weight: 150 kg.
Endurance: 3hr
Payload: 35kg
Cruising speed: 80km/hr
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JH-1 UAV
Takeoff weight: 550kg
Payload: 180kg
Endurance: 3hr
Ceiling: 3000m
49654129356_3d45a3dfbc_o.jpg



Norinco's CR-500 Golden Eagle
Takeoff weight: 470kg
Payload: 160kg. T
Endurance: 4 to 8 hours, depending on payload
Range: 200km.
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AL EQAB-2 from the Saudi company STII.
I'm pretty sure it's a licensed production of the TB001 from the Chinese company Tengoen.
49654417227_62323239eb_o.jpg
 

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
I enjoyed that. I wished they showed the sniper rifle at work. Is it a stable enough platform to fire a sniper round? Imagine something like high enough, far enough at stand-off distance sniping people down especially at night. I wonder if they can have sensor-fuze munitions to take out armored vehicles.
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
Looks light enough to be launched via railing. Not sure what the point of vtol is.

VTOL also allows it to hover in place or fly at extremely slow speed below the stall speed of the airframe itself.

It would also make it much easier and less restrictive in terms of recovery operations.

Depending on payload, it could also double up as an emergency resupply tool to delivery low volume/weight, but high value assets to units in the field.
 
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