China’s military gives a look at its first dedicated drone squadron

State media broadcasts interviews and vision of the ex-fighter pilots guiding the PLA Air Force’s UAVs

CCTV report includes footage of GJ-2 drones in action over snowy mountains and other terrain

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China’s state broadcaster CCTV is the first media organisation to be given access to the PLA Air Force’s dedicated drone squadron and the G-2 military drone. Photo: CCTV

Published: 6:00am, 24 Sep 2022Updated: 7:43am, 24 Sep 2022

The Chinese military has given the first official look at the work of a dedicated drone squadron, stationed in the country’s northwestern desert.

The squadron, specialising in reconnaissance and combat drones, was created as a “seed unit” to extend the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within the PLA Air Force, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday.

The report included footage of the air force’s GJ-2 (Attack-2) drones scanning terrain in a range of environments – including snowy mountain ranges – as well as locking on to a target drone and firing at a moving vehicle on the ground.

“They are now flying across the plateau, the sea and the jungle, inventing tactics in a complex environment and showing off their skills in the unmanned battlefield of ‘information warfare’,” the report said.

It is the first time state media has broadcast details of a military drone unit, with the technology increasingly seen as a key component in modern combat.

According to CCTV, the squadron featured in its report was the first to operate the more powerful and advanced GJ-2 – known as Wing Loong-2 in the international market – which officially entered service in 2018 and took its place in the October 1 military parade a year later.

“In only several months, they managed to master live-fire missions and reach combat readiness in the same year of deployment.”

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