China unveils its answer to US Reaper drone

[humble3d]

China unveils its answer to US Reaper drone

CH-5 Rainbow has long range and carries a strong punch, with Beijing aiming to sell the unmanned aerial vehicle for half the price of American-made top-seller

China has started commercial production of its deadliest drone for overseas users, and it could be a rival to US remotely piloted vehicles, according to a Chinese drone researcher.

Wang Song, an associate professor with the school of aeronautic science and engineering at Beihang University, said the first flight of a mass-produced CH-5 Rainbow on Friday last week meant China was ready to offer international buyers a heavy military drone with performance equalling that of the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, but at around half the cost.

The Rainbow flight was conducted at a military airport in Hebei province, according to Xinhua.

Unlike with a test flight two years ago, the aircraft that was flown was a production model, the state news agency said.

 

The Reaper, or Predator B, was the world’s first unmanned aerial vehicle that could attack targets on the ground.

At US$16.9 million, according to a 2013 US budget report, it was also the world’s most expensive drone.

“The CH-5 may come in at less than half of the price,” said Wang, who was deputy chief designer of a Chinese military drone but not directly involved in the Rainbow project.

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The Rainbow series, ranging from the tiny model 1 to the three-tonne model 5, was developed and produced by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the company behind the space programme.

Rainbows have been sold to more than a dozen countries, with annual production exceeding 200 units, and are the “most popular military drones in the world”, according to the company’s website.

However, the initial output of the CH-5 would be relatively small, Wang said. It could be more than 10 units a year, but was unlikely to exceed 20 due to the size and sophistication of the aircraft.

 

“This should meet the early demand,” Wang said.

 

The Rainbows are mainly for the overseas market...LIKE NORTH KOREA...

The Predator B drone by US-based General Atomics is seen behind a Textron Flight Systems drone at an airshow at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, in this file photo from 2013.

In 2015, the Iraqi Ministry of Defence released a video showing a missile attack on an Islamic State target by a CH-4B drone, which is just a third of the size of the CH-5.

The CH-5 can carry up to 16 air-to-ground missiles and stay in the air for nearly two days, said Shi Wen, the chief designer of the drone, in an interview with Global Times last year.

After being modified for certain missions, it can fly for up to 120 hours, giving it a range of more than 10,000km.

This endurance enabled the drone to fly to a target 3,000km away and stay overhead for up to 20 hours, Shi told the state-run newspaper.

Such performance “leaves the Predator series in the dust”, he added.

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The CH-5 has other advantages.

For instance, it could be operated by an undergraduate student with basic knowledge of aviation after only one or two days of training, according to state media reports.

 

This was because of the simplicity of its user interface, and the fact that operations like take-off and landing could be automated.

The drone can also be modified to be a low-cost airborne early warning system, or equipped with high-tech sensors such as wall and ground-penetrating radars developed by China.

However, Wang said the Chinese drone had a weakness compared to its American counterparts.

The Reaper can climb to a height of between 12,000 and 15,000 metres.

 

This allows the US drone to stay above the reach of most ground fire.

 

The CH-5, on the other hand, cannot operate at more than 9,000 metres, which makes it vulnerable to some anti-aircraft weaponry.

The limited ceiling of the Rainbow is a by-product of its relatively weak engine, according to Wang, who noted that China still lagged behind the West in aircraft engine technology.

“This is in fact the weakness of all China-made aeroplanes,” he said.
 

 

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2103005/new-chinese-drone-overseas-buyers-rival-us-reaper

 

[pc71520]

 

[steven36]

If these Drone clones are mainly too sell too the overseas market it means China has something better  ..If you buy weapons from other countries always they have something better that they not told you about ..   It's like the ABomb  even the president didn't know what it was tell right before they used it  .

 

The Next Big War Will Turn on AI, Says US Secret-Weapons Czar

http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2017/03/next-big-war-will-turn-ai-says-pentagons-secret-weapons-czar/136537/

All superpowers countries have declassified weapons that they want you too know about many they sell too there allies and they have classified weapons only they know about.

https://federalnewsradio.com/defense-news/2017/05/recently-declassified-pentagon-weapons-office-says-rapid-prototyping-is-secret-to-its-success/

This kind of tech is forever progressing ..  What you know as a US Reaper drone today will be a improved prototype soon and the Chinese have always  tried too clone everything .. That's why the Rich in the USA uses China to clone stuff that was designed in the USA in manufacturing .  They have someone in the USA draw up the plains up for it and have the Chinese build it for half the price as when it use too be made in the USA..  Last I checked it's not about who have the cheapest weapons  there more likely to malfunction ..It's about who makes the best Weapons  and the more money they have too spend on them the more likely they will have them.

[knowledge-Spammer]

is better then   Global Hawk  ?

[steven36]

31 minutes ago, knowledge said:

is better then   Global Hawk  ?

would you take a Saturday Night Special  that most likely will blow up in you're face too a gun fight were the enemy have expensive high powered guns ? Keep in mind a Saturday Night Special can kill someone but it could kill the person using it as well.

 

Them cloning drones have been going on for some years  now

 

Drone maker DJI plagued by copy cats as price war begins in China’s Shenzhen among makers of hot aerial photography tools Monday, 26 October, 2015

http://www.scmp.com/tech/social-gadgets/article/1870080/drone-maker-dji-plagued-copy-cats-price-war-begins-chinas

Quote

 

The Caihong 5 has both a radome nose and an upward pointing V-tail like the Reaper, and its 66 foot wingspan is exactly the same as the American drone. According to Chinese media, the Caihong 5’s maximum gross takeoff weight is about 6,000 lbs., well below the Reaper’s 10,500 lbs., and Beijing’s Reaper knockoff has a reported maximum payload of 900 kilograms (1,984 lbs.), far less than the MQ-9’s combined payload of 3,000 lbs. external and 850 lbs. internal. The Reaper’s combined payload is about 1,749 kilos, nearly double the Caihong 5’s.

 

 

But that tale of the tape is just as superficial as the Caihong 5’s resemblance to the Reaper.

 

“There is no magic to building these vehicles,” said one expert who played a key role in developing the smaller Predator (Reaper’s father), the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. drone whose unprecedented endurance of more than 24 hours airborne broke the mold in unmanned systems. “The magic is in getting them to do what you want them to do when and where you want them to do it.”

 

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/09/new-china-drone-looks-like-a-reaper-but/

 

[steven36]

US Navy tests the world's first drone killing laser capable of blasting targets with 30kW of power

 

 

 

Quote

 

The American laser weapon system hits the target 50,000 times faster than intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The Navy (US Navy) conducted the test of the world's first laser weapons

The Laser Weapon System (LaWS) is located on the USS Ponce transport dock. The tests were conducted in the Persian Gulf.
It is noted that LaWS hits the target "at the speed of light," 50,000 times faster than intercontinental ballistic missiles. The objects of destruction can be found both on the ground and in the air.
"We are not worried because of the wind, because of the range, we are not worried about anything else, we are able to hit targets at the speed of light," said Lt. Cale Hughes.

To test laser weapons, the Navy launched a target in the form of an unmanned aircraft, the laser maintenance team brought the weapons to the target, the wing of the drones caught fire "in an instant," and it fell into the sea. The blow happened "silently and imperceptibly."

For the functioning of weapons, only a supply of electricity is needed, which comes from a small generator and three people to service the laser. Hughes estimated the cost of one use of weapons in one dollar.

To date, laser weapons are disabling aircraft and small boats. On the question of the channel about whether LaWS can shoot down the missile, Hughes replied "maybe."

 

 

[Sylence]

U.S please fly one of your drones near our borders, we want to capture your next gen stealth UAVs and mass produce it by the next year

again.