China unveils ‘loyal wingman’ armed drone idea – Occasions of India

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ZHUHAI, China: China on Wednesday revealed a drone idea comparable in mission – and look – to the US-made Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie as international locations race to spend money on “loyal wingman” drones to assist shield pricier crewed fighter jets.
The long-range FH-97 drone concept unveiled on Wednesday can carry various kinds of weapons, and has swarm and digital warfare capabilities, mentioned Wu Wei, a consultant of China Aerospace Science Expertise Corp’s (CASTC) Feihong product line.
He didn’t present specifics in his presentation at Airshow China in Zhuhai.
America, Britain, Australia, India and Russia are among the many international locations growing “loyal wingman” drones, that are cheaper and extra expendable than crewed fighters.
CASTC didn’t present technical particulars of the FH-97 idea, nor say whether or not it was deliberate for export, although many international observers watched the presentation.
The FH-97’s look is sort of equivalent to the Kratos XQ-58A, which made its first flight in 2019. The XQ-58A has a most velocity of Mach 0.85 and a spread of about 2,200 nautical miles.
Zhang Zhongyang, vp of CASTC mentioned the plan was to show Feihong into an “worldwide top-notch model… and turn out to be a significant participant on the centre stage of the world enviornment.”
China has exported navy drones to international locations together with the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Serbia.
“The chief buyer is actually the PLA, however lately the Chinese language are additionally aggressively advertising and marketing these methods for exports,” mentioned Collin Koh, a defence analysis fellow with Singapore’s Rajaratnam Faculty of Worldwide Research.
China additionally used the nation’s largest air present to show the weapons functionality of one in all its most superior stealth assault drone initiatives, the GJ-11.
The International Occasions reported that the GJ-11 on show on the present had its two weapons bays open for the primary time. Inside every have been 4 unidentified munitions that seemed to be precision air-to-ground glide bombs.
Bradley Perrett, a specialist on Asian aerospace and defence, mentioned the GJ-11 was designed to slide undetected by radar protection and assault closely defended targets.
“In doing that, it could take the place of a a lot bigger and dearer fighter with a pilot,” he mentioned. “Improvement will not be simple, however when it is full the sort will current a brand new menace to Taiwan and doubtlessly Japan.”
Chinese language firms have 27 drone reveals on the Zhuhai present.


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