Chinese UAV/UCAV development

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Deino

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PLA Attack-1Drone Unit ...

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Perfect ! You made my day !!! :)

Finally one with full serials visible ... 78091 means 178th Brigade !
 

Hendrik_2000

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Here is the write up and for the first time confirm that Wingloong can navigate with satellite link over the horizon up to 1000km as well as night flying and automatic landing. It also can fly in collaborative fashion with manned aircraft. But the best thing is they are receiving new UAV that is more potent.
It also highlight the career of Lin Hao the first UAV pilot of PLAAF

It has been a few years since the armed MALE drone Wing Loong was admitted to active service in the Chinese Air Force, but as is customary, very little detail has been communicated so far .

When exactly did it enter service? How were the first pilots selected and trained? What about the first operational missions of this MALE drone in the army?

China's state-run media - such as the Xinhua news agency, the People's Daily newspaper, and the national CCTV - have made extensive coverage since yesterday on one of China's first Wing Loong pilots. No less than thirty different articles and videos have been published and reveal many unusual details about this drone.

LI Hao (李浩), the air brigade general of the Chinese Air Force, is the man who caused so much ink to flow. Aged 54, LI was a former fighter pilot who flew on 6 different aircraft models and has more than 3,000 hours of flying time.

Its history with the drone Wing Loong started 7 years ago, in late 2010. Approaching its 48-year-old at the time, mandatory retirement age for the Fighter pilots of the Army of the Army, Chinese airline, LI could have converted into commercial airline pilot, but eventually chose to submit his candidacy to become the first Chinese combat drone pilots.

That year, the Chinese Air Force created its first combat drone brigade, and 20 fighter pilots were selected to join this newly founded entity in South East China.

"I was one of the first volunteers to choose this route," says LI, now an instructor of drone pilots, "but only a few of the time were still in service today ..."

The year 2011 was marked by a series of intensive theoretical training which took place at 3 different locations, for the 20 pilot students of Wing Loong. They had to travel between two Chinese air force universities in northern China, and their southern-based operational entity.

"Wing Loong was not yet delivered, there were many questions that had remained theoretical and experimental for us," confesses LI. There were disagreements between the trainers and the students, including the flight control parameters.

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After the theoretical trainings come the training on simulator. On May 20, 2012, LI Hao became the first pilot of the Chinese army to take off the drone Wing Loong, followed by the other pilots of the same promotion.

Since then, things have been accelerating. Wing Loong drones participated for the first time in Red Flag 2012, the equivalent of Red Flag maneuvers in the West, where they conducted reconnaissance missions in real time. This is the first time a combat drone has been integrated into the overall Chinese Air Force system.

In 2014, LI and three other pilots performed their first Air-Ground strikes in Xinjiang Province, their new home base. It is here that each one fired two missiles from their drone, and this signals the end of their basic training as a drone pilot.
 
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Hendrik_2000

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(cont)

On the strength of this success, their Wing Loong participated in a military exercise trans-armed in the same year, and Air-Ground weapons were used. They then linked to the joint Sino-Russian exercise "Mission of Peace 2014", where the LI-powered drone struck and destroyed an OPFOR command vehicle.


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Air brigade general LI Hao, pilot and instructor of the drone Wing Loong.

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LI Hao with his drone students WIng Loong

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But using individual armed drones is not suitable for the Chinese Air Force. In July 2015, it organizes a flight evaluation mission in formation of two models of military drone, of which the Wing Loong - the first of its kind. The trial took place at a military base on the plateau at an altitude of 3,800 meters.

And it is in 2016 that the Wing Loong drones begin to fly together with the piloted aircraft and collaborate collaboratively with them on two major military exercises, including the Red Sword 2016.

Today, LI Hao continues to fly with its drones and trains young pilots - in February this year it hosts two young fighter pilots, one holds the "Golden Helmet", the supreme award for a pilot of Chinese hunt. But LI's eyes are now turning towards the next reception of a brand new type of armed drone, the exact model of which has not been revealed.


That's all we've been able to learn from the articles and videos that have been published these days, which also helped answer some long-standing questions, starting with whether the Wing Loong drones used by the Chinese army are Equipped with satellite links, enabling operators to operate them over a very long distance, or they are constrained to limit the radius of control to 250 km by radio.

And the answer is yes, and this time with two proofs in support. The first is in a passage from the CCTV-7 television report, where the young drone pilots can be seen in the "container" of command and control next to LI Hao, it is reported that the drone they were piloting Is 1,000 km from where they are located.

The second is the photo of a large antenna on the ground to connect with drones via the military communication satellite.


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The antenna that connects with the Wing Loong drones via Chinese military communications satellites.

The other issue is overnight flights. Can the Wing Loong drones of the Chinese Air Force perform nightly sorties?

And again, the answer is yes. On the eve of the interview with General LI Hao, the base pilots were preparing for a night flight training. And the Chinese media also published two photos of a drone Wing Loong with commentary: "the trajectory of t
he drone at night".

There are of course other small details that can be mentioned, which are equally interesting, such as the frequent updating of software, the automation of the exit of the drone from its hangar to the tarmac, the tolerances of Meteorological condition for the take-off and the automatic landing of the Wing Loong, or some anecdotes on the breakdowns and the false alarms of system ... etc, but we will have the opportunity to come back soon.

And these publications have also left us other points in suspense, for example what is the other model of drone that was flying training with the Wing Loong in July 2015? What new type of drone that LI Hao is about to receive this year? What is the real level of integration of armed drones alongside the other aircraft piloted by the Chinese Air Force?

So these are all questions that deserve to be further elaborated.

To be continued.

Henri K.



Annex :
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based a priori in Malan, in Xinjiang Province.
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Hendrik_2000

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Henri K updated his article on the Wing loong CJ1 withnew video about the night fighting capability of CJ1 which is more potent than the export version. Since the domestic version have satellite link enabling them to have extended range and night fighting too. He speculate that the new UAV is Wing Loong II with heavier payload and even longer endurance

The PLAAF is preparing to receive a new model of armored MALE drone. Possibly this is the Wing Loong II.
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He also confirm the said base in the previous article as Malan , Xinjiang
This seems to confirm the location of the Chinese armed drones regiment that I mentioned a few days ago.
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Here is the video with some neat animation blend with real footage

The other issue is overnight flights. Can the Wing Loong drones of the Chinese Air Force perform nightly sorties?

And again, the answer is yes. On the eve of the interview with General LI Hao, the base pilots were preparing for a night flight training. And the Chinese media also published two photos of a Wing Loong drone with the commentary "the drone's trajectory at night", as well as a passage at the beginning of a television report, in which the pilots train Night shots.


Another documentary on CJ 1 show the portable operation room of CJ 1
 
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