Chinese MALE, HALE (and rotary, small, suicide) UAV/UCAV thread

[tankphobia]

A low-flying WZ-7. Posted by @这丫头有点风 on Weibo.

View attachment 140148
View attachment 140149

With advanced large format jet powered UAV like wz-7, I kinda feel like it's ill fitting for a thread which also contains infantry carried grenade drones, fpvs with RPGs duct taped underneath or drone swarms . Maybe mods should consider splitting UAVs into three threads instead of two? We already have seperate thread for individual manned platforms, I don't think it's a big ask to separate UAVs a little more.

High end - loyal wingman
Mid end - MALE/HALE/large format subsonic UAVs
Low end - loitering munitions/fpv/drone swarm

 

[Blitzo]

With advanced large format jet powered UAV like wz-7, I kinda feel like it's ill fitting for a thread which also contains infantry carried grenade drones, fpvs with RPGs duct taped underneath or drone swarms . Maybe mods should consider splitting UAVs into three threads instead of two? We already have seperate thread for individual manned platforms, I don't think it's a big ask to separate UAVs a little more.

High end - loyal wingman
Mid end - MALE/HALE/large format subsonic UAVs
Low end - loitering munitions/fpv/drone swarm

Three threads is a bit much for UAVs.

The reason why I split the loyal wingman stuff into its own thread is because it is expected to be more active in future and it is a relatively high yield/important capability. Meanwhile, this thread is better viewed as "MALE+HALE primarily and trash low end UAVs".


Part of the goal is that people avoid posting low end UAVs here unless it is particularly relevant or insightful, with hope that people can operate with appropriate discretion

 

[by78]

An image of the Chinese counterpart of

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

. Apparently, it's intended use case is terminal defense against drone swarms.

 

[by78]

More information on the octocopter from Kestrel Defense.

It can fly for 30 minutes while carrying a payload of 50 kg and has a range of 25 kilometers. It's foldable for compact storage and ease of deployment. It can deliver 50kg-class combat robots, 50kg-class tracked/wheeled unmanned vehicles, and 50kg-class unmanned watercraft. In strike configuration, it can carry small arms for fire support, launch 12 micro-UAVs, 36 60mm mortar shells, and deliver one 50kg or two 25kg laser/satellite-guided bombs, among other destructive payloads. It can also deliver guided fire extinguishing bombs.

Here's that Kestrel octocopter hovering overhead in a glamor shot.

 

[by78]

LHEP-D technology demonstrator. It's a hydrogen powered unmanned cargo UAV.

 

[by78]

Yet another tiltrotor shown at Zhuhai: the AVIC H600 tiltrotor. No further information is available. Not sure if this is a scale demonstrator or a serial prototype that will result in a manned variant.

 

[by78]

A nice high-resolution image of WZ-7 from Zhuhai.

 

[lcloo]

Thousand of drones fell onto ground during a drone show in Quanzhou organised by Taiwaness businessmen based in Fujian. The cause was due to the organizer used a batch of drones which were not registered wth local police, and the police used ECM equipment to shut down these drones.

This show effectiveness of anti-drone ECM equipment used by Quanzhou city police. And we can imagine PLA's military grade anti-drone ECM would be far more powerful.

 

[by78]

A high-resolution magazine scan of CH-9.

 

[by78]

The EAGLE-300-XFA2 firefighting UAV of

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

obtained a special airworthiness certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, becoming the first large multi-rotor drone of its kind to obtain this certificate.