Another new drone via LKJ86 twin propeller long range surveillance?
CETC CU42 UAV
April 24, 2019
It is certainly another UAV that can be used for surveillance according to the producer CETCD. Here is the official announcement of the test
Now here is the list of the company's current product protofolio
They are DA42 which CU42 got its 42 from.
Then DA42 is produced by an Austrian company
which is owned by another Chinese company
. Wanfeng is just a holding company, itself is not involved in industry or manufacturing.
While the name of CETC aviation (the producer) is "CETC Wuhu DIAMOND" abbreviated to CETCD, so it sounds like it is the Chinese R&D and production facility for the aircrafts.
But the strange thing is that the CETCD website states that the company is owned jointly by Wuhu government and CETC, nothing about Wanfeng. According to Wanfeng website, the company is located in Zhejiang province, and it is a private equity holding company. CETC and Wuhu is in Jiangsu province and fully state. It is interesting that a private company bought the Austrian company and allowed another company and government using the technology and its brand "Diamond" without mentioning the company itself.
Of course, behind door agreement of IP is very possible, it is the "no connection mentioned" being interesting.
Another thing is that, we should not overinterpret this event as related to PLA. Nowadays every company in China, state or private, can do what ever they see profitable. The state actually encourage commercial company (state or private) to enter PLA supply chain. So I think CU42 is an attempt by CETC's commercial arm to get into a lucrative market, whether PLA one day may be interested is another thing. In a way, CETC is doing what NORINCO has been doing for decades.