Chinese MALE, HALE (and rotary, small, suicide) UAV/UCAV thread
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
The Air Force needs to suppress ground-based air defence systems sufficiently before UAVs can operate more freely.
Non-mobile AD system like Iron Dome can be taken out with high speed missiles (Iron Dome was designed as a cheap system to intercept short range rockets)
A Chinese version of the Shaheed-136 would be likely be around $20K.
At first glance, the Iron Dome missile costs somewhere between $50K-$150K
The economics don't favour Iron Dome as a defender
antiterror13
Brigadier
And how many Iron Dome needed to destroy a Shaheed-136 ? 1.5 maybe
The effectiveness the TB-2 has demonstrated in the first few months of the Russian-Ukrainian war was apparently an aberration. News have disappeared. So we are back to pre-war verdict about MALE and HALE type drones. They are of limited utility in an intense war. They are useful as frontline ISR assets and for rear area armed patrols against infiltrators. High-endurance drones won't be doing any CAS unless enemy GBAD and air power are rendered ineffective. CAS will be done by fighters and VLO drones in conjunction with SEAD and counter-air operations.
On the other hand, we do have to note that UAVs have been used to penetrate deep in Russian airspace despite its sophisticated IADS. There have been multiple attacks on Russian airports that base its LRA assets, and that was with a rather home-grown and primitive effort.
By contrast, China has much more sophisticated capabilities and industry. Thus, I think it is possible that drones can be used in this sort of "suicidal" manner to undertake high-priority missions, even if survival is unlikely.
I've theorized that this is why UAVs are actually much more likely to replace rotary aviation in its role, and play a more complementary role to fixed-wing manned aviation instead of ever threatening to replace it.
Already happening. The Turks started developing the Kizilelma drone for example.
Now I am not saying I agree with the design of that specific system in particular, but it goes in that direction.
If it was me I would make a drone that would have enough radar and IR stealth to go around medium range SHORAD. Then use it as a platform to deliver glide bombs or simplified TV guided missiles. I personally think the Turk's concept of using it to launch cruise missiles is a dumb idea.
Other countries are also developing such systems like Russia's Grom drone. Look at the weapon systems next to it:
A bunch of glide bombs of several types.
China has several UCAV designs like CJ-11 and others. Remains to be seen which will enter service.
Last edited:
My point was more against heavily armed, non-stealthy UAV such as TB001, but compared to using patriot or similar technology to defend, it is much cheaper and makes the playing field almost equal for close to even the lowest end of attack UAVs.
The important facts here is that there have been enough batteries available that even a swarm attack of hundreds of rockets was relatively ineffective against such an emplacement.
I reckon closer to 1:1
A slow piston-engine powered cruise missile like the Shaheed-136 is ridiculously easy to shoot down
But that is ok, because they are cheap and SAMs are way more expensive. So if a Shaheed-136 is shot down by a SAM, it has succeeded in its mission.
Last edited:
The assumption here is defenders have enough batteries available and can buy [a larger number of expensive SAMs] versus [lower-cost rockets or Shaheed-136]
Note that Israel is an actual country, whereas the Palestinians aren't a country.
If there is an arms race between actual countries, defensive SAMs will run out.