Chinese drones hailed by foreign clients

The China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, one of the country's top makers of unmanned military aircraft, has sold more than 200 midsize and large combat drones to over 10 nations, greatly facilitating wars against terrorists, according to a senior manager.

Wang Zhaokui, one of the Beijing-based academy's executives in charge of unmanned aircraft business, told China Daily in an exclusive interview that since the first delivery to a foreign customer in 2003, the Caihong, or Rainbow, combat drones have been widely deployed across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and have played a crucial role in counterterrorism operations.

The pilotless planes have accumulated nearly 70,000 hours in combat actions from nearly 12,000 sorties, and have fired more than 2,000 munitions, boasting a 98.2-percent successful hit rate, he said.

"The Caihong-series planes have been called 'sharp weapons for counterterrorism operations' by our foreign clients. Our drones have earned China about $2 billion," Wang noted.

The most popular model in the Caihong family is the CH-4, the executive said, noting that more than 100 CH-4s have been delivered to foreign military users, and that means the model is China's bestselling unmanned combat aircraft on the international market.

"One of our customers in the Middle East bought a large number of CH-4s and used them in battles with armed terrorists. The commander of that nation's army aviation force has spoken highly of our products. He told us that the CH-4 model, which is over 30 percent cheaper than Western-made drones of the same type, has very good capabilities that have been proven through combat operations.

"The commander said he was very much satisfied with the CH-4's outstanding performance and our support staff's excellent service, which met their defense needs and ensured their victory," Wang recalled.

"Before placing their order for the CH-4, the military procurement authorities of that country had carried out comprehensive market research by analyzing and comparing products from the United States, Europe, Israel and Russia. And at the end, they chose ours because the CH-4 is the 'best buy' and has the best cost performance."

He pointed out that one of the CH-4s deployed in another Middle East nation flew more than 3,000 hours in its service life and completed a long list of strike tasks, which testified to the model's quality and durability.

The executive added that militaries in the Middle East are major buyers of the Caihong-series drones and they have been sending the Chinese planes to fight terrorists for many years.

Wang's academy is a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, a leading space and defense contractor in the country.

The academy started researching and developing the CH drones in 1999 after its engineers realized that their expertise in aerodynamics and missile design could also be used on unmanned aircraft.

Since then, the research complex has established a large portfolio of military drones, ranging from small models for battlefield reconnaissance to a big stealth version capable of penetrating an enemy's air defense network.

"Our drones feature low operational and maintenance costs and better performance compared with similar types from the West. They have combat-tested capabilities. They are easy to use and convenient to maintain. Moreover, we always follow a set of customer-centered culture and strategies," Wang said.

In the past two years, the academy continued to deliver drones to foreign buyers according to schedules set by contracts, he said.

"Most of the orders in the past two years were placed by repeat customers. As a matter of fact, most of our buyers would return to us to place more orders after using our drones in combat and seeing how reliable our products are, and one of them has even purchased our drones four times," Wang noted.

The executive said his academy has been striving to promote its latest offer, the CH-9 heavy-duty strike drone, among current and potential buyers.

"The CH-9 is as good as the US' MQ-9 Reaper. We are convinced that the new model will attract our current and potential clients that are in need of such hardware and, at the same time, can afford it," he said.

The CH-9, which was unveiled to the public at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition that took place in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, in November, features a large body, strong carrying capacity and a long flight range.

Technical specifications published by Wang's academy show that the drone has a maximum takeoff weight of 5 metric tons. It has eight external weapon pylons under its wings as well as another one under the fuselage, and is able to carry a total of 490 kilograms of ammunition, including air-to-air and anti-ship missiles, bombs, torpedoes and loitering munitions.

When loaded with weapons, a CH-9 is able to fly as far as 11,500 kilometers and remain in the air for up to 40 hours. It can also generate battlefield intelligence in real time, autonomously identify targets and adjust its flight route.

These features enable the CH-9 to carry a large amount of munitions to patrol areas with potential targets, including warships and submarines, according to the academy.

In addition to surveillance, reconnaissance and attack, the aircraft is also capable of performing regional early-warning tasks, according to its designers.

"Of course, beside the high-end CH-9, we also have some low-cost types to offer to those with less budget," Wang said.

Thanks to their outstanding operational records and battle performance, the Caihong-series drones have become even more popular in the international market and continue to attract new buyers, the executive said.

"I am now in talks with several potential customers in the Middle East on three export projects," he said.

In addition to combat drones and their missiles, the academy has also delivered final assembly lines to two foreign countries, and the facilities "are still running", Wang said, noting that his academy is the first Chinese company to export assembly lines of military drones.

Furthermore, several foreign customers have reached the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, inquiring about its drones' applications for civilian purposes such as cargo transport, cloud seeding and natural resources prospecting, according to Wang.

Actually, several modified CH-3s have been used to conduct the first drone-based aerial survey of mineral resources in Africa since 2017.

Those CH-3s, the world's first deployable mine-survey drones, were used to prospect for mineral resources in Zambia, which testified to the Caihong series' huge potential in business sectors, Wang said.

"Our drones have helped our clients a lot in cracking down on terrorism and maintaining their domestic stability and security. They have also extensively improved the users' national defense capabilities. Through the drone transactions, China and those countries have consolidated their relationship and friendship," the executive said.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn