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

Blitzo

Blitzo

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ismellcopium said:
Are Wing Loong 3 and X the same?
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At Zhuhai 2022 they showed WL-3, but then in some defense expos since then, afaik we haven't seen the WL-3 name but we have seen WL-X and it was associated with drones that looked identical to WL-3 in Zhuhai 2022 with nigh identical specs.

I personally wonder if it is just a renaming.
 
tphuang

tphuang

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On WL-X

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翼龙-X总师：反潜型翼龙-X可对关键地区进行封控反潜】11月12日，第十五届中国国际航空航天博览会在珠海国际航展中心开幕，本届航展上由中国航空工业集团自主研制的“翼龙”“云影”系列共二十余型先进无人机集体参展，其中翼龙-X无人机综合反潜构型首次展示。该型号总师唐勇11月13日在接受《环球时报》记者采访时表示，翼龙-X无人机目前正处于试验试飞阶段，反潜构型的翼龙-X可执行对关键地区的封控反潜任务。

面对远域实战场景作战需求，本届航展上，中国航空工业集团推出了翼龙-X无人机。该机创新融入了当今无人机领域最新成果，堪称是中空长航时无人机系统产品的“天花板”，处于国际先进水平。

据《环球时报》记者了解，翼龙-X无人机是集远航程、重挂载、多用途等众多优点于一身，极具领先的竞争力。该型号总师唐勇11月13日在接受《环球时报》记者采访时透露，目前，翼龙-X无人机正处于试验试飞阶段。该机在多种先进能力的支持下，能够执行全域侦察打击、跨域支援协同、对抗环境作战和应急救援行动等作战任务。

本次航展现场上，翼龙-X无人机首次以综合反潜构型展示，搭载了声呐浮标吊舱、鱼雷、空空导弹、空舰导弹等多种载荷。唐勇介绍称，翼龙-X无人机在多种先进能力支持下，能够执行全域侦察打击、跨域支援协同、对抗环境作战和应急救援行动等作战任务。可执行海上护卫、反潜作战、空中近地支援、反辐射打击、低空警戒与拦截、电子侦察与干扰、通信中继、海上搜救等多种任务，在不同作战场景中发挥重要作用。

“其中，反潜巡逻主要遂行海上广域侦察监视、综合搜潜攻潜、远域巡逻和反潜作战，可对关键地区进行封控反潜，还可融入体系协同作战等任务。”唐勇表示，翼龙-X的综合反潜能力可为海洋安全的维护提供关键支持，进一步引领无人机察打能力从对地单空间，拓展到对空、水上和水下全空间覆盖。（环球时报—环球网报道 记者 樊巍）
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confirms it has entered test flight. ASW version is mentioned and can carry sonar buoys, torpedos, AAM, Anti-ship missiles. Can also do search and rescue, maritime reconnaissance, long range patrol and such.
 
plawolf

plawolf

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by78 said:
Misc. affordable UAV solutions.

54134694920_030155016a_k.jpg
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New killsteak unlocked, tactical bowling ball ready for deployment.
 
A

ACuriousPLAFan

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tphuang said:
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confirms it has entered test flight. ASW version is mentioned and can carry sonar buoys, torpedos, AAM, Anti-ship missiles. Can also do search and rescue, maritime reconnaissance, long range patrol and such.
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Given the scale and intensity of maritime patrol & surveillance and anti-submarine warfare demands which are to be expected in the ECS, SCS and throughout the WestPac in general - China will definitely need (at least) low-to-mid hundreds of these MALE/HALE MP/ASW U(C)AVs to complement the Y-8/9 ASW aircraft fleet.


In the meantime - We've seen that the Mojave STOL UCAV has been test-operated from the Prince of Wales CV and (just recently) Dokdo LPH, where the latter displaces about the same as the flat-deck research and testing platform we saw at Guangzhou recently.

Perhaps it's time to consider Izumo-sized CVs (with or without EMCAT and/or EMAGS) that would serve as "scout/escort"-type CV(L/E)s to complement the larger, proper CV(N)s in the PLAN fleets in patrol, reconnaissance, early-warning and anti-submarine roles. These small flat-tops should serve as sea-based mobile platforms where "navalized" variants of these types of U(C)AVs are to operate from.
 
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ismellcopium

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ACuriousPLAFan said:
Given the scale and intensity of maritime patrol & surveillance and anti-submarine warfare demands which are to be expected in the ECS, SCS and throughout the WestPac in general - China will definitely need (at least) low-to-mid hundreds of these MALE/HALE MP/ASW U(C)AVs to complement the Y-8/9 ASW aircraft fleet.
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What's known about the annual production rates of these large MALE/HALE airframes? I recall there was a post earlier in the thread about a new factory in Chengdu with 200/yr, not sure if that's only for a specific model or all their UAVs in general. But how many factories like that are there? I assume current in service numbers are quite low so annual rates are a good indicator of numbers we can expect by a few years time.
 
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