Chinese UAV/UCAV development
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Red___Sword
Junior Member
So soon there would be an ironic yet very true scenario:
Maned J-20 guarding unmaned Soar Dragon (that's the ironic part), approaching CBGs, delivering target data to the eyes in the sky, and verifies the kill-efficient the AshBM TEL waaay-behind coastal line deliverd.
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By the way, like they name J-20 黑丝带; they name this baby 全村鹰 "Village Hawk" - as Vs. the "global hawk".
Maned J-20 guarding unmaned Soar Dragon (that's the ironic part), approaching CBGs, delivering target data to the eyes in the sky, and verifies the kill-efficient the AshBM TEL waaay-behind coastal line deliverd.
Edit:
By the way, like they name J-20 黑丝带; they name this baby 全村鹰 "Village Hawk" - as Vs. the "global hawk".
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Martian
Senior Member
Here is Marchpole (from another forum) beating on my arse.
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The 7000-km range quoted is outdated and totally wrong.
The UAV is presently powered by a WP13 engine, which will in the future be replaced by WS500 and its improved variants:
The Xianglong (SoarDragon), whose model has been on exhibit at airshows, is said to be for the export market.
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thansk but regarding ...
... I can't think that CAC/GAIC would sell such an advanced design without a PLAAF-use at first !? ... or is there an even more advanced and capable design under development elsewhere ?
Honestly I have to admit the whole Chinese-UAV-story at the moment si quite confusing (what's based on an official PLAAF-requirement, what's for export, what's only a private venture ???)
Deino
... I can't think that CAC/GAIC would sell such an advanced design without a PLAAF-use at first !? ... or is there an even more advanced and capable design under development elsewhere ?
Honestly I have to admit the whole Chinese-UAV-story at the moment si quite confusing (what's based on an official PLAAF-requirement, what's for export, what's only a private venture ???)
Deino
I agree this CAC/GAIC uav probably isn't destined for the export market, for reasons you mentioned.
I also have a different theory -- there were a lot of uav models shown at zhuhai airshows 2006-2008, including this joined wing one, a couple of global hawk look alikes and even the dark sword and warrior eagle ucavs. But at the 2010 airshow there was a sudden drought of "advanced" uav models -- sure there were some cruise missile-esque uavs like the WJ-600, and the updated pterodactyl and ch-3 uav -- but they were all fairly mundane.
Does that mean all the other more "advanced" uavs are not under development?
With the appearance of this joined wing uav (whatever its name is), I would say the answer to that question is definitely not. At the paris airshow I believe a number of uav models were shown -- but none of the "advanced" ones.
The fact that we've seen no "advanced" models since 2010 is the standard reason that the PLA wants to conserve their real capability. I expect the guys on flightglobal and aviation week to be very surprised when they see the X-45/X-47B class ucav fly in a year or so.
So imho there are two categories of uavs -- one "advanced" type, models of which has been seen pre 2010, but not since (large, strategic MALEs/HALEs, and stealthy ucavs), and less advanced for both PLAAF use and export (with shorter endurance uavs and less advanced ucavs like CH-3 and pterodactyl uav), that have been shown and promoted for export orders.
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plawolf
Lieutenant General
Remember what these air shows are primarily for - to give companies a chance to advertise their wares and find buys.
I think the Chinese UAV sector looks a little confusing because it is. There is a much lower entry barrier to UAVs than say, manned aircraft, so we have seen a massive number of existing established aerospace companies as well as some newly established ones breaking into the market, and it is at air and trade shows that these companies get a chance to show their wears, to the PLA as well as potential foreign customers.
If an advanced design that was showed a few years ago has 'disappeared' from later shows, it could be that it was too ambitious a design and ultimately proved beyond the abilities of the company proposing it, or it could be that it got official PLA interest and so has no further need to search for buyers, and may even have been classified by the PLA when they became interested.
Remember the case of CAC wanting to display J10s at ZhuHai and being vetoed by the PLAAF? I think its a similar case with every project the PLA has a hand in. As soon as the PLA takes interest, the maker can only disclose information about the project with express PLA approval.
Yes, that is sort of what I was getting at.
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