Chinese UAV/UCAV development

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Hendrik_2000

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The location of the island of Daishan.

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The air base of the drones on the island of Daishan.

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Three strategic reconnaissance drones BZK-005, on the island of Daishan.

Developed by Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) and HAIG in the early 2000s, the BZK-005 appeared in a video of the Zhuhai Air Show in 2006. But if one Believes in the Eastern Fleet article, the non-commissioned officer now handles drones for 12 years now, it could mean that this HALE drone is operational one year before its appearance to the public.

In September 2013,
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that said he met a drone of "unknown nationality" over the East China Sea. It turns out that the drone photographed by the Japanese is actually the BZK-005, which took off precisely from the Daishan base.

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The course of the BZK-005 drone in the East China Sea

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The drone BZK-005 photographed by the Japanese armed forces.

And there is also this strategic reconnaissance drone in at least two other places in China - the Shahe drones near Beijing, which belongs to the Chinese army headquarters, and the island of Yongxing in the South China Sea. Its autonomy of 40 hours in flight allows it to patrol over a very wide zone.

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The Chinese Shahe drones air base
 

Hendrik_2000

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As for BZK-007, it is also known under the name of Harrier I (see our article "
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") developed by GAIC. It is a small 700-kg drone that is 7.7 meters long and has a wingspan of 14.6 meters. With an autonomy of 16 hours in flight, he entered service in the Army and the Chinese Navy for tactical reconnaissance missions.

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The drone BZK-007, also known as Harrier I of GAIC.

Knowing the habit of institutional communication in China, where information revealed so often signals the replacement of old equipment with a new one, and if we now group together with another new vener directly GAIC, where
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, one might assume that after a dozen years of use, the regiment drones from the eastern fleet will be - to receive new equipment to extend and improve reconnaissance capacity to the east, where Japan and the US military are located, and also South Korea.

Weighing a maximum takeoff 7500 kg and a speed of 750 km / h, the EA-03 Soar Dragon is not only 6 times heavier than the BZK-005, but it also flies 6 times faster . With a range of 7,000 km and a more complete sensor suite (SAR, FLIR, TV and ELINT), this new Chinese drone offers a much better capability in reconnaissance and intelligence to the Chinese Navy than the old model.


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The new HALE EA-03 Soar Dragon for the Chinese Navy

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The Soar Dragon assembly plant

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Of course this is an assumption for the moment and it is therefore appropriate to expect complementary elements to link these two new "independent" together.

In any case, we now officially know the existence of the Eastern Fleet Regiment in Daishan, and we also know that the delivery of the new EA-03 drones to the Chinese Navy will take place in the near future.

To be continued.

Henri K.
 
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Hendrik_2000

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Deino
That is not true that the army only operate small UAV They have Shahe airbase for strategic UAV
It is not my word but either Oedo soldier or Gaofen who guess it is intended for army

And there is also this strategic reconnaissance drone in at least two other places in China - the Shahe drones near Beijing, which belongs to the Chinese army headquarters, and the island of Yongxing in the South China Sea. Its autonomy of 40 hours in flight allows it to patrol over a very wide zone.

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The Chinese Shahe drones air base
 

Deino

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Deino
That is not true that the army only operate small UAV They have Shahe airbase for strategic UAV
It is not my word but either Oedo soldier or Gaofen who guess it is intended for army

And there is also this strategic reconnaissance drone in at least two other places in China - the Shahe drones near Beijing, which belongs to the Chinese army headquarters, and the island of Yongxing in the South China Sea. Its autonomy of 40 hours in flight allows it to patrol over a very wide zone.

The Chinese Shahe drones air base


I think here's a misunderstanding. If You say the PLA = Army operates them, then the PLA also operates J-10. I think H.K also means in this translated text Chinese army = PLA in general.

My point is that the Army aviation or the ground forces only operate smaller ones like the BZK-006. The Shahe AB is used by the PLA HQ.

Deino
 

Hendrik_2000

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I think here's a misunderstanding. If You say the PLA = Army operates them, then the PLA also operates J-10. I think H.K also means in this translated text Chinese army = PLA in general.

My point is that the Army aviation or the ground forces only operate smaller ones like the BZK-006. The Shahe AB is used by the PLA HQ.

Deino

I don't know where you get the idea that PLA headquarter is in Shahe
because as far as I know the PLA headquarter is in Beijing.
Shahe is the army headquarter or Armee du Terre in French. the fact that sofar Chinese army only have small UAV is irrelevant since we know both the navy and the airforce are using larger and larger UAV
You need to read his report on Cloud shadow that convince me it is intended for the army
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It is HAME(high altitude medium endurance) which make it unlikely candidate for PLAN, PLAAF because it is short legged
His argument is based on range 300-400km, 2hr loiter time,high speed.modular construction, type of weapon that it will carry

However, it can still be assumed that - because of the turbojet which generally consumes more than the turboprops, a higher cruising speed and a size no larger than the usual MALEs therefore a restricted volume in internal tanks - The Cloud Shadow is not a long endurance drone, although it is built with 60% composite materials according to CAC.

This point can be seen indirectly in the exploded view of the drone, where the blue part represents the internal reservoirs of the drone.

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The sectional view of the Cloud Shadow drone

A very approximate calculation gives a central reservoir that is 3.8 x 0.6 x 0.7 meters in size, so about 1.6 m3 by volume. If we add to this volume 50% more to take an account also the reservoirs of the wing, we are therefore about 2.4 m3 of tank. Suppose now that the kerosene density is between 755 and 840 kg / m3, the Cloud Shadow could carry up to 2 tons of kerosene, but the actual figure should be much lower. It only remains to find the SFC engine WP-11C, the basic version is derived from the model J69-T-41A , to know approximately how long the UAV can stay aloft.

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SFC from J69 to Mach 0.8 and sea level (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers)

Assuming that the WP-11C SFC is 1.2 kg / kgf / h, the Cloud Shadow would then only have 2 hours of run time. But since all these calculations are based on a starting volume and a very rough SFC, it is advisable to remain cautious and to take these data only to give us an order of magnitude, namely "a few hours of flight". It can therefore be said that this drone is of medium endurance, therefore a "HAME".

Can we already say that "Cloud Shadow" is "short-legged"? In fact, it depends on what they are asked to fulfill as missions, ie what needs to be addressed and who is the target customers, who are pushing CAC engineers to design a product with such characteristics.

Unfortunately, the official CAC publications did not give any details about the target customers, but according to some of our sources, the Cloud Shadow would become the first "big" drone of the Chinese Army, Until now only small drones of the "theater" for ISR missions, or guidance and evaluation of artillery damage.

The video broadcast by CAC on the AVIC stand at the Zhuhai Show shows that there are 3 versions of "Cloud Shadow" - an armed version with 6 ammunition weights of 400 kg in total, and two ISR versions, one of which is dedicated to reconnaissance Optic and the other with SAR radar. A ground control station can pilot 3 drones at a time, where the 3 versions cooperate together and fly in formation.

For ten years, many Chinese manufacturers that address the emerging market for military drones, whose armed drones among which are especially the family of drones Caihong aerospace group CCACs and family Wing Loong aeronautical group AVIC, both widely used in China and exported overseas. But there are still few Chinese armed drones that can, or are designed to, fly above 10,000 meters of altitude. The "Cloud Shadow" drone, designed by CAC (Chengdu Aircraft Corporation) and presented for the first time at the 11th edition of the Zhuhai Air Show, is part of this exception.

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The Cloud Shadow drone version armed
If the first client of the "Cloud Shadow" is actually the Chinese Army, then it is not surprising that it first favors speed and altitude, to the detriment of autonomy. For the objective is to equip a fast strike vector beyond the usual range of its artillery, that is to say 300 kilometers maximum, in the case where it must act alone therefore without support in depth of the forces of the rockets and support Air force.

The Cloud Shadow will also provide a broader SRI capability than now, but since ground units advance 150 to 300 kilometers per day in an offensive operation, it is not necessary for the drones to remain in flight Beyond the duration of an attack wave.


The needs in this case are therefore to have a vector -

  • With a high survivability rate, hence the 14,000-meter ceiling that exceeds the maximum limit for short-range air defense weapons, and the use of certain measures to reduce the SER of the craft as well as the serrated contours of Trap door and sensor window, or the S-shaped air inlet to hide the engine blades ... etc.
  • Quick to deploy and maintain, hence the fact that the "Cloud Shadow" is transportable "in 6 modules" and can be "assembled in two to three hours", as was seen before the opening of the Zhuhai Exhibition Where CAC personnel spent less than one morning assembling the drone.
  • Capable of intervening quickly, hence its higher speed, at 620 km / h, than the other MALE drones.
 
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Deino

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I don't know where you get the idea that PLA headquarter is in Shahe
because as far as I know the PLA headquarter is in Beijing.
Shahe is the army headquarter or Armee du Terre in French.

I think we are both discussing semantics !

I'm well aware that the base at Shahe is not the PLA HQ, but the base is a unit directly subordinated to the PLA General Staff Department as a specialized division operating UAVs, known only as the ‘Strategic UAV Scout Force’. So - and honestly I'm really eager to learn if I'm wrong - this unit is not assigned to the PLA Army or I again got You wrong !?

the fact that sofar Chinese army only have small UAV is irrelevant since we know both the navy and the airforce are using larger and larger UAV
You need to read his report on Cloud shadow that convince me it is intended for the army
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Therefore I even less understand Your second reply or again I got You wrong: Again I'm aware that the PLAAF and the PLANAF are using "larger" UAVs but not the PLA Army. If You understand PLA as a whole then also the Chinese Army operates the Liaoning and the J-16....

As such the only UAVs the PLA Army operates are smaller ones like the BZK-006 / WZ-6:
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Again I do not deny that larger UAVs are used, but - at least for me - it is a difference if they are used by the PLAAF, the PLANAF or the PLA Army. Not sure if You know what I try to say.

Deino


Finaly PS concerning the yellow J-15s. I really don't know why You think these birds numbered 551, 552, 553, ... are serial birds already operationally in late 2012 during their first carrier tests??? That's really beyond me.
 

Hendrik_2000

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@ Deino You didn't even bother to read his argument and brush it off the army as the intended client for cloud shadow
The TREND is for all branches of PLA use larger and larger UAV including the army. the fact that sofar they use small UAVis irrelevant and it is not convincing argument to eliminate the PLA ground force as the intended first client.He even alluded to army as the first client

Unfortunately, the official CAC publications did not give any details about the target customers, but according to some of our sources, the Cloud Shadow would become the first "big" drone of the Chinese Army, Until now only small drones of the "theater" for ISR missions, or guidance and evaluation of artillery damage.

We will know it in the future anyway

Strict prototype will be discarded right after it use but the yellow J 15 still use in the service of PLAN training facility that what I mean by being in the service
 
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Deino

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@ Deino You didn't even bother to read his argument and brush it off the army as the intended client for cloud shadow
The TREND is for all branches of PLA use larger and larger UAV including the army. the fact that sofar they use small UAVis irrelevant and it is not convincing argument to eliminate the PLA ground force as the intended first client.He even alluded to army as the first client...

Pardon again !

I did not mention his argument since it is irrelevant to our discussion. I am discussing what they are using right now ... he is arguing why the PLA Army will eventually use it as the first operator. Sorry, but it seems as if You are not even willing to read or answer my point??
Even more You are bringing the Cloud Shadow up to the discussion, while I'm asking, who will first operate the Soaring Dragon .... So, is it some kind of language issue or why to why each try to explain completely different things to each other ???



Let's try it again: So far ... and I beg for corrections and additions:

PLA General Staff Department: BZK-005 and BZK-007 ... some (for example Huitong) say the Soaring Dragon too

PLAAF: WD-1 (Wing Loong I)

PLANAF: BZK-005 and BZK-007 ?? ... some say also the WD-1 (at least one was spotted a while ago)

PLA Army: BZK-006 / WZ-6

Or am I wrong ???

Deino


...Strict prototype will be discarded right after it use but the yellow J 15 still use in the service of PLAN training facility that what I mean by being in the service


Yes, but again that's now ... when they were tested for the first time in 2012 they were "prototypes" not operationally used by the PLANAF since the J-15 only entered service in 2014 !
 

Hendrik_2000

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We are discussing the cloud shadow here is my post
and you seem to question the sentence Ca clare!. did you have problem with reading?
The PLA Army Air Corps seems to be adopting the same series machine of the Cloudshadow

Yellow paint does not indicate it is not in service. When Liaoning start operation all the J15 flying from her deck are in yellow paint, On different subject

The PLA Army Air Corps seems to be adopting the same series machine of the Cloudshadow reconnaissance,attack unmanned aircraft (1st photo) exhibited at the 2016 China Air Show, the cloud shadow reconnaissance,attack unmanned aircraft vehicle (2nd photo).

C2D3UWzVQAAJH9j.jpg
 

Deino

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I give up ! and to admit I just don't like Your tone, Your attitude.

I am discussing the Soaring Dragon from my first reply and not the Cloud Shaddow. Even more You are ignoring my arguments and You only post images + text parts loosely translated via Bing or whatever from the Eastpendelum site.

YES that site is fine but esp. in a English translation not without errors. As such h.K. never said this particular yellow bird IS in PLA Army service ... it is his assumption, nothing more.
Even more: tell me one example of any PLAAF, PLANAF or PLA Army type in yellow primer in operational service.

As such You are the one who's off.

And now either back to the Soaring Dragon or a general discussion but I beg to read and differ to what particual topic anyone else is just replying.
 
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