The drones that have become part of China’s military strategy
China’s PLA, or People’s Liberation Army, is actively trying to make advances in military robotics and unmanned systems. It now has a range of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, in use across its army, navy, air force and rocket force – the military’s strategic and tactical missiles unit. Here are some of them.
ARMY
ASN series
The PLA ground force has a number of UAVs that are primarily smaller, more tactical models and are often used for battlefield reconnaissance and targeting artillery fire to improve precision strikes. A significant proportion of these are part of a series produced by the Xian Aisheng Technology Group. The fixed-wing drones have a conventional design with a mid-wing configuration and are used to support the artillery.
NAVY
BZK-005 or Changying
The navy generally uses smaller, tactical drones but it also has a limited number of sophisticated reconnaissance UAVs, notably this medium-altitude, long-endurance model. Roughly comparable to the US Global Hawk, it has a maximum range of 2,400km and a maximum endurance of 40 hours. It has been operating in the vicinity of the East China Sea since at least 2013 and there were also reports in 2016 that it had been deployed to Woody Island in the South China Sea – both disputed territories.
ASN-209 or Silver Eagle
This medium-altitude, medium-endurance drone has been in use by the navy since at least 2011 for long-distance communications support and electromagnetic confrontation. With a range of 200km and a maximum duration of 10 hours, it could be used to support satellite communications if they were knocked out by the enemy, or for guidance in targeting missiles during combat.
AIR FORCE
GJ-1 or Gongji
A medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV, the Gongji – which means “attack” in Chinese – is a land attack version of the Pterodactyl. It has a range of 4,000km and a maximum endurance of 20 hours. Similar to the US Predator, this drone can carry at least 10 types of precision weapons, including air-to-ground missiles, precision-guided rockets and precision-guided bombs. It has an optical turret, infrared and photoelectric sensors, and laser target pointers, and can guide the targeting of anti-tank missiles as well as provide targeting instructions for other aircraft or ground weapons. It is known for its integrated reconnaissance and strike capabilities, but can also be used for electronic warfare, to guide targeting, or as an anti-radiation missile.