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Chinese UAV/UCAV development
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I want to send a new post to send out this picture, but can't find a place, just find a post to send a reply
I think new-hatched members cannot post images in the beginning
Can anyone help with either identifying this rather strange UCAV (?) or whatever it is?
Labelled as "Rare old photos prove that the PLA has really studied drones to hit rockets and lick the ground and support CAS in close contact" and indeed, these images look quite old.
(Image via @柳成梁 / FB)
Labelled as "Rare old photos prove that the PLA has really studied drones to hit rockets and lick the ground and support CAS in close contact" and indeed, these images look quite old.
(Image via @柳成梁 / FB)
This is an interesting video on how people associated with US AF look at drone export market
some interesting point in there
- China has 90% of the UCAV export market (I think this might be a little overstated)
- any form of military export allows the exporter to influence the importing country. drone exports is no exception.
- UCAV export allows China to get access to real world data of drone usage which can then be used to quickly iterate and improve those platforms
- drone export brings in money and jobs to defense industry, allowing development of new and better systems
- US military is paranoid about operating alongside Chinese weapons. So, by exporting drones to other countries, US military will chose not to operate alongside those countries due to fear of Chinese spying.
And then they went with the typical arrogant view that as soon as America lowers the export restrictions, other countries will suddenly buy from America. They don't to realize that
1) American drones are really expensive to buy and operate
2) America will want to have a say on how the weapons are to be used
3) America can turn off those weapons at any time.
Are MQ-9 better than CH-4? Sure. Is it better than WL-2? Hard to say (maybe MQ-9 has higher speed than WL-2?). Do they come with higher cost and usage restrictions, 100%.
Now, I think there is both +/- to the political consideration. It's true that China is open to sell drones to most countries. On the other hand, buying Chinese UAVs could mean being closed off from buying American weapons. That price might be too high for certain countries. As a whole, drone export is a great gateway for China to get into some of these countries. They should continue to try to crowd these markets with more and better drones. Especially, stealth ones.
some interesting point in there
- China has 90% of the UCAV export market (I think this might be a little overstated)
- any form of military export allows the exporter to influence the importing country. drone exports is no exception.
- UCAV export allows China to get access to real world data of drone usage which can then be used to quickly iterate and improve those platforms
- drone export brings in money and jobs to defense industry, allowing development of new and better systems
- US military is paranoid about operating alongside Chinese weapons. So, by exporting drones to other countries, US military will chose not to operate alongside those countries due to fear of Chinese spying.
And then they went with the typical arrogant view that as soon as America lowers the export restrictions, other countries will suddenly buy from America. They don't to realize that
1) American drones are really expensive to buy and operate
2) America will want to have a say on how the weapons are to be used
3) America can turn off those weapons at any time.
Are MQ-9 better than CH-4? Sure. Is it better than WL-2? Hard to say (maybe MQ-9 has higher speed than WL-2?). Do they come with higher cost and usage restrictions, 100%.
Now, I think there is both +/- to the political consideration. It's true that China is open to sell drones to most countries. On the other hand, buying Chinese UAVs could mean being closed off from buying American weapons. That price might be too high for certain countries. As a whole, drone export is a great gateway for China to get into some of these countries. They should continue to try to crowd these markets with more and better drones. Especially, stealth ones.
If the Chinese military exports become more successful the US will try to block them. Just read about US CAATSA legislation against Russian arms industry and exports. Just see how much they threaten countries like India not to buy Russian arms. Or how they convinced Indonesia and Egypt to drop Russian weapons purchases recently.
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
The US arguing for exporting drones sounds more about making money. The only difference is when Western drones crash, it'll cost the owner more money losing it. There is nothing that says US drones are less likely to be shot down.
Russian exports constitute a relatively large source of income for Russia though. Without external orders, Russia does not have the funding to develop new weapons. PLA provides most of military orders and findings for domestic firms.
That is what you typically hear US politicians say. You hear this talk in their press as well. According to their way of thinking the Su-57 would have been cancelled once India pulled out of the program. So how come the Russians finished development and it entered limited production? The thing is this isn't the 1990s anymore. The Russians have a state budget and these programs are financed by the government. The days where Sukhoi was a private company which had to rely on internal funds, which they gained from exports, to develop aircraft are long gone. The Su-75 is another aircraft which the US press keep claiming is a paper plane. Yet the Russian government already funded it. In a couple years once the prototype starts flying I will see if they still continue with their inane comments on how they think the Russian MIC operates today.
Also how many Tu-160 aircraft do you think they are going to export? Another aircraft which the Russians have in production. And how many quad engine supersonic bombers does the US have in production? Yeah right.
The other talk you kept hearing was about how Russia depends on oil sales. Except oil price collapsed to $40 USD per barrel. Russia raised VAT and they kept operating and funding their military programs just fine. Their MIC finished development of the Su-57 and T-14 with that kind of fiscal environment. Their aerospace industry also finished development of the MC-21 and is now finishing development of the Zircon and Sarmat. Of course it helps to have some trade to get things they otherwise would have difficulty getting. And you can bet the limitations on import of Western made machine tools are going to hurt the Russian economy and their MIC mid term. They already stopped having access to Western military tech ever since they invaded Crimea. But the whole concept they are dependent on military weapons exports is kind of rooted in a vision of how things used to be in Russia. Not how they are today.
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MQ-9 isn't in the same class as CH-4, thou. MQ-1 is.
thus I don't think it's right to say it is better.
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