China is showing off a new large drone at its important Zhuhai air show. This event is the 14th exhibition of its type in China and is usually where Beijing shows off new airplanes, drones and munitions. China has become a major player in the military drone market over the last decade.
While China makes a large number of drones, many of them borrow heavily from how American Reaper and Predator drones look. Those drones also have commonalities with Israeli large UAVs, such as Herons and Hermes.
As such China’s decision to unveil what is called the Wing Loong-3 is an attempt to showcase Beijing’s ability to build upon its existing smaller versions of the same drone, and claim that it now has a long-range drone capable of carrying numerous missiles.
Drones have been in the news lately because Russia is using Iranian kamikaze drones in the war on Ukraine. These are relatively cheap and simple delta-wing designs that are actually what is known as a “loitering munition,” meaning it’s a flying munition similar to a cruise missile.
The Iranian drones don’t even “loiter,” they just fly on a path into a target. They are deadly but they are also relatively simple as a concept. The Chinese Wing Loong is supposed to be a more complex version of the American Reaper.
According to reports in China, the new drone can fly up to 10,000km and has a 24-meter wingspan. It can carry up to 16 munitions, including missiles and bombs. It can carry air-to-air missiles which would make it more interesting than existing similar drones that are made in Israel or the US.
These kinds of drones are large UAVs, sometimes called “medium altitude, long endurance” or “MALE” as an acronym
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