China’s Stealth CH-7 Long-Endurance Drone Emerges

The first example of China’s mysterious CH-7 stealthy flying-wing drone seems to have been revealed, although with a somewhat different look compared to previous mockups, and a very impressive size.

This points to China’s accelerated efforts to develop low-observable, long-endurance drones and while this one appears to be tailored for intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR), there have long been claims that it will also undertake strike missions as an uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV).

Video and stills released by Chinese state media show the drone on a so-far unidentified runway, taxiing down it day and night — although we don’t see it in the air. The yellow-coloured coat of primer is frequently seen on Chinese aircraft during its test phase. Meanwhile, a pair of apparent air data probes on the leading edges of the wing point to this being a prototype or perhaps a pre-production machine.

At this point, it should be stressed that we don’t know for sure that this is the CH-7, but it certainly seems like the best fit and has been identified as such by various Chinese aerospace observers. There is also a possibility that we are seeing computer-generated images, or at least computer-enhanced ones, but there is nothing that would point conclusively to this being the case at this time.

Developed by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), specifically by its 11th Research Institute, the CH-7 (or Caihong-7, meaning Rainbow-7) is a high-altitude UCAV that is widely understood to be optimized for penetrating deep into hostile airspace. It would achieve this through a combination of a low-observable (stealth) design and flying at very high altitudes, leading it to operate for extended periods of time without ever being detected.

Source: The War Zone

 

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