Droni Cinesi

[Andrea75]

China Unveils Yi Long UAV

 

China has unveiled for the first time its Yi Long unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) local media reported on Wednesday, which its makers claim is far cheaper than its Israeli and American analogs at less than $1 million.

 

The UAV, which was unveiled at the Air China aerospace show in Zhuhai on Tuesday, has been under development by the Chengdu aircraft-building institute since 2005, and made a first test-flight in 2008, and has only been previously shown in model form.

 

Yi Long can be used for military or civil tasks, the makers say, including geophysical or post-disaster survey work. The aircraft has a length of 9.34 meters, a wingspan of 14 meters and a mass of just over a ton. It has a ceiling of 5,300 meters and a range of 4,000 kilometers, with an endurance of up to 20 hours.

 

The Yi Long MALE UAV unveiled at the Zhuhai air show closely resembles the US Air Force’s Predator/Reaper models, has the same airframe configuration and is also armed.

 

Pictures shown on Sky News show it has having a similar configuration to the US-made MQ-9 Reaper, with a pusher engine, V-tail, long-span straight wing, and fuselage shape configured for low radar cross-section. It was also shown armed with under-wing missiles, and an electro-optical sensor turret under the forward fuselage.

 

The Chinese say the UAV has "already successfully entered the international market," but provided no further details.

 

 

 

[Andrea75]

Chinese Blue Fox: Drone or UAV?

 

During Airshow China 2012 in Zhuhai, China, last week (Nov. 13-17), AVIC officials released a brochure and exhibited a small model of the Blue Fox drone.

AVIC Brochure: “The Blue Fox high-maneuver drone is, based upon the L-15 aircraft aerodynamics and contour, designed through adaptive modifications to the fuselage, air intake and vertical tail after contraction ratio so that it has superior aerodynamic characteristics. The drone is the high-performance targets for air combat weapon tests, air combat training in real arms, ground-to-air weapon tests and air defense training in real arms. It is capable of simulating the high maneuverability of third-generation fighters and above and RCS [radar cross-section] simulation. It is powered with two miniature turbo-jet engines, each providing maximum thrust 60dN.”

See photos for performance parameters.

The L-15 was based on the Russian Yak-130, which had a UAV variant that did not progress to the production stage. Richard Fisher, senior fellow, Asian Military Affairs, International Assessment and Strategy Center, believes the Blue Fox might be more of an unmanned aerial vehicle than a simple target drone. “It may be developed for electronic or kinetic combat missions.” The PLAAF already has hundreds of retired J-6 and J-7 fighters to turn into target drones, he said.

 

 

e qui la brochure http://blogs.defensenews.com/intercepts/2012/11/chinese-blue-fox-drone-or-uav/#

[Andrea75]

Inside the Pterodactyl UAS: sneak preview of China’s Predator clone mobile ground control station

 

Among the highlights of the recent Zhuhai Airshow, taking place from Nov. 13 to 18, there was China’s clone of the U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone called the Wing Loong (Pterodactyl).

Similar in shape to the MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B), the Wing Loong/Pterodactyl drone is 9.05 m long, 2.77 m high and has a 14 meter (46 feet) wingspan. Its Maximum Takeoff weight is 1,100 kg and it has a ceiling of 16,400 feet and an endurance exceeding 20 hours.

And, above all, it can carry a couple of air-to-ground missiles.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXY2jpVdY0E

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Anche il layout della sala di controllo hanno copiato, fantasia a zero.

[Andrea75]

China launches high-altitude drone patrolling-and-inspection tests

 

Three drones of different types conducted their final test on November 21, 2012 in Hoh Xil, a high-altitude and frigid area in west China’s Qinghai province, which marked the full completion of the one-month-long flight tests for the “Applicability study on drone patrolling-and-inspection in high-altitude area” at altitudes between 2,800 and 4,767 meters above sea level.

　　The drone patrolling-and-inspection flight in high-altitude area is a worldwide problem. The researchers have successively carried out the applicability study on high-altitude patrolling-and-inspection by unmanned helicopters and unmanned fixed-wing airplanes as well as the impact study on drone patrolling-and-inspection under high-altitude weather conditions such as low temperature and sandy wind since March 8, 2012.

　　The researchers conducted tests for a total of 10 types of unmanned plane platforms with different power, different aerodynamic structure and different taking-off and landing mode in such places in Qinghai province as Wushaoling, Jinyintan, Qinghai Lake, Riyue Mountain, Laji Mountain, Xidatan and Hoh Xil respectively since the end of October in 2012.

[Andrea75]

China’s Unmanned Aircraft Evolve from Figment to Reality

 

China’s UAVs have grown more teeth, according to the evidence on hand at this year’s Zhuhai airshow, an event that has expanded exponentially since its debut in 1996.

When UAVs began popping up at the biennial aviation exhibition, they were mere models, figments of an engineer’s ambition and imagination. One of the first to appear in model form, in 2006, was Shenyang’s Dark Sword (Anjian) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). The Anjian caused wild speculation among aviation analysts and journalists. The stealthy strike UCAV with forward-swept wings looked menacing but has not been seen since at Zhuhai.

At the 2010 airshow, numerous videos, murals and other artistic representations portrayed “heroic” Chinese UCAVs attacking U.S. aircraft carriers. Some of these bizarre renderings showed UCAVs swarming over aircraft carrier battle groups like angry bees.

This year, the one hint that UAVs might be used against aircraft carriers was an imaginative entry in a competition on future UAV designs sponsored by Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC). In this case, a stealthy Blue Shark UCAV was shown attacking Russia’s Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.

Two UCAVs stood out this year at Zhuhai, and both appeared to be influenced by the U.S.-built MQ-9 Reaper. The first was the Wing Loong, built by Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute, and the second was the CH-4, built by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The Wing Loong received the most attention at Zhuhai due to reports of export deals in the works, but there were few details and it was the only static display of an operational UCAV at the show. With four hard points for weapons, armaments on display were the BA-7 semi-active, laser-guided, air-to-ground missile; LS-6/50-kilogram miniature guided bomb; and the YZ-102A precision-guided bomb and YZ-121 laser-guided bomb.

The CH-4 on display was a full-scale model. Also outfitted with four hard points, the only weapons discernible on display were the AR-1 short-range, laser-guided air-to-ground bomb, and the FT-5 precision-guided “small diameter bomb” outfitted with a semi-active laser seeker for terminal guidance.

The AR-1 was first spotted at the 2008 airshow outfitted on the smaller CH-3 UCAV, but nothing more is known about it beyond its similarities to the AGM-114 Hellfire.

A CH-4 representative said the aircraft is a multirole platform capable of carrying two bombs and two laser-guided bombs. With a 30-hour endurance time and a range of 3,500 kilometers, the CH-4 can reach altitudes of eight kilometers.

Chinese companies showed off more than their ability to produce attack UAVs, with AVIC displaying a sophisticated ground control system (GCS) cabin for UAVs. The GCS cabin featured five flat-screen televisions that provide the operator front vision, a computer-aided view called vision synthetic, head-up displays, flight plan and flight posture.

In a previous report, AVIC’s Avant-Courier, Platypus and Bateleur models were described as UAVs, but airshow sources said that all are conceptual manned aircraft.

The Avant-Courier has a coaxial main gear with side and rear propellers. The single-engine platform provides high-speed, low-speed and hover modes, giving it a multimission profile. The Platypus is a twin-engine high-speed helicopter with a top-side rotating dish wing and lower fixed wings equipped with jet engines. The Bateleur is similar in appearance to the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. All three are capable of vertical takeoff and landing.

 

http://cmsimg.defensenews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=M5&Date=20121126&Category=DEFREG03&ArtNo=311260001&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&China-8217-s-Unmanned-Aircraft-Evolve-from-Figment-Reality

[Andrea75]

Analysts: Chinese Drone Technology Advancing Rapidly

 

Analysts say China is using its rapidly expanding defense budget to make impressive advances in drone technology, prompting some to worry that the United States' global dominance in the market could soon be challenged.

At a recent biennial airshow in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai, China unveiled a new generation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Long-time observers of Chinese military capability reported the drones on display were bigger and more sophisticated than in the past.

Though many of the prototypes and models on display at the Zhuhai air show did not have explicit military purposes, others appeared to be clones of U.S. drones, such as the Predator or Reaper, which have both been used in deadly missions on suspected militants.

There is no evidence suggesting China plans to use its drones in a similar manner as the United States, and observers say Beijing is still likely far behind Washington in drone technology.

 

US Defense Report Calls China's drone advances "alarming"

But a report published in July by the Defense Science Board, a committee that advises the U.S. Defense Department, suggested that Beijing's ramped up spending and research on drones could threaten U.S. supremacy in the sector.

The unclassified report called China's recent focus on UAVs "alarming," warning Beijing could "easily match or outpace U.S. spending on unmanned systems, rapidly close the technology gaps and become a formidable global competitor in unmanned systems."

Richard Bitzinger, an ex-CIA analyst and senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, says he dismisses parts of that report as being "melodramatic."

"There's certainly cause for concern and for watchfulness. But how could the Chinese outspend the United States on drones? I just don't see it," he said. "The United States has literally thousands of drones."

 

How has China used drones?

Bitzinger says it is difficult to determine how China, or any other country, uses drones, partly because of their often-times covert nature. He says drone programs with obvious military purposes are often disguised as only having humanitarian roles, such as disaster relief, counter-piracy or crime-fighting.

"Kind of all these warm fuzzies, these kind of 'mom-and-apple-pie,' benign things that you can say 'That's what we're building the drones for, and oh, by the way, we have a military purpose for them, as well," said Bitzinger. "When I hear all the kind of uplifting and peaceful-sounding kind of things [about drones], I think 'So what. They can be converted in a matter of hours, if not sooner, into an offensive, or at least an explicitly military, capability.'"

For China, state media said those reportedly peaceful missions include patrolling maritime regions. In September, the Xinhua news agency reported that China's State Oceanic Administration would step up the use of drones to "strengthen marine surveillance" in disputed areas of the South China Sea. A government report earlier this year called for 11 drone bases to be established along China's coastline by 2015.

But other missions were seemingly more mundane. The state-run Global Times reported in June that Beijing police is using a drone to spot illegal opium poppies in rural areas of the capital. Last year, the paper said the department would also use unmanned aircraft to "monitor traffic accidents, conduct aerial surveillance, or help with rescue operations."

So far there are no known instances of China carrying out deadly attacks with weaponized UAVs. But Li Yidong, a designer for the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, told the Global Times that one of the UAVs on display at the Zhuhai air show appears to have carried out 20 missions and fired 15 missiles, judging from the number of red stars and missile patterns on the drone.

At the Zhuhai air show, Huang Wei, the director of a drone program at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told the Global Times that UAVs were, "as the Americans say," fit for missions that are "dirty, dangerous and dull."

 

Possible deadly missions in the future?

Bitzinger warns that if Beijing did decide to use drones for explicitly offensive missions, such as targeting suspected militants, it would likely draw on the experience of the U.S. military, which has used the highly effective unmanned planes to target militants in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen.

"The United States is basically field-testing the whole idea of drone warfare," said Bitzinger. "Armed hunter-killer drones have been going very well for the United States. And people walk away with this as a lesson. One of the lessons is, "Gee, it would sure be nice to have one of those things."

Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief at Defense News, says there is no evidence to suggest that China desires to carry out deadly drone strikes. But he says that if it did, it would likely point to U.S. drone use as justification.

"There's certainly an argument to be made that if the U.S. can make the same type of judgment call and justification for hitting militants in Pakistan, what's to stop the Chinese from hitting Tibetan or Uighur rebel groups that are technically within China's own sovereign country?" he asks.

 

The danger of Chinese drone exports

Another area of concern for the United States is that China will increasingly export its relatively inexpensive drone technology to nations around the world. That fear was heightened when the Global Times said in November that "some foreign sales" were reported at the Zhuhai air show.

Minnick says that Chinese drones, many of which are specifically produced for the export market, are very attractive for nations that cannot afford or are otherwise prevented from purchasing the U.S. alternatives.

"Our drone exports are very expensive platforms, very sophisticated. The Chinese produce a much cheaper variety that basically does the same job," said Minnick. "The Chinese have got cheap labor, technological know-how, and are looking at an export market that's growing."

But Bitzinger says price is only one factor that nations consider when purchasing foreign military equipment. He warns Beijing will not likely become the "Wal-Mart" of international drone sales anytime soon.

"I'm sure they'd like to be, but the question is, do you want to buy Chinese equipment?" asks Bitzinger. "The reliability, the maintenance of these things is still unproven, and there's a lot of political baggage that comes with buying Chinese [products]."

 

Bitzinger also says Chinese exports of drones may be limited by international arms sales regulations that govern exports of weapons and "dual-use" goods that have both civilian and military purposes.

 

Still, Bitzinger and other analysts warn against being dismissive of Chinese drone capability.

 

"I think at this point, they're still very much in that developmental, exploratory phase," he said. "That aside, I don't see them getting out of the business. I think they'll continue to work on it and get better."

[TT-1 Pinto]

Dalla Cina .... senza coda ....

 

New Chinese advances in tailless UAV designs revealed ....

 

China's internal pipeline of military aircraft demonstrators has produced yet another new and intriguing specimen as pictures posted on Chinese discussion forums revealed the nation's first tailless, unmanned and partially stealthy aircraft, apparently being readied for a debut flight test.

 

Fonte .... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/picture-new-chinese-advances-in-tailless-uav-designs-revealed-385842/

 

[nik978]

sempre sullo stesso articolo http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/picture-new-chinese-advances-in-tailless-uav-designs-revealed-385842/

hanno messo una foto molto piu' ravvicinata ma non me la fa caricare...

 

Come dice l'articolo,, il "senza coda" ha avuto una genesi lunga:

At the same time, the pictures reveal new and spectacular advances in the sophistication of Chinese aircraft designs. By making the Lijian a flying wing and tailless, China pronounces itself ready to tackle one of the hardest problems in aerodynamics and flight controls.

Flying wings are a holy grail for aerodynamicists seeking to optimise lift, and for electromagnetic frequency experts seeking to minimise the structural corners that are easy reflectors of radar waves.

However, the shape also produces aerodynamic effects that are difficult to control, such as a phenomenon called "pitch tumble" at very low airspeeds in which the aircraft loses control by suddenly flipping on to its back in an unrecoverable state.

Chinese industry has been focusing on the problems of tailless, flying wing designs for several years. Shenyang engineers, for example, published an academic paper in 2007 entitled Application of Flying Wing Configuration to UCAV for Reconnaissance, which concluded that such a tailless design is "an optimal selection" for aerodynamic purposes.

Modificato 15 Maggio 2013 da nik978

[fabio-22raptor]

 

hanno messo una foto molto piu' ravvicinata ma non me la fa caricare...

 

 

 

Ti riferisci a questa?

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/Assets/GetAsset.aspx?ItemID=50493

 

Ma sbaglio o nella parte superiore potrebbe esserci un simil - canopy dipinto di un colore differente??

Modificato 20 Maggio 2013 da fabio-22raptor

[nik978]

esatto questa. grazie

In effetti la colorazione è bizzarra.......

[fabio-22raptor]

Un UAV della Marina Cinese beccato sulle isole Senkaku. (eh si, assomiglia al predator)

 

 

 

China’s Navy UAV flies close to the disputed Senkaku islands

On Sept. 9, one day after two H-6G maritime strike aircraft had been intercepted by the Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15 scrambled from Naha while flying in international airspace between the Miyako and Okinawa islands, an unknown Chinese UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was intercepted near the contested Senkaku islands.

Based on the image released by the Japan MoD, the UAV seems to be a Wing Loong (Pterodactyl), a drone based on the U.S. MQ-1 Predator.

Update: as suggested by several readers the drone is actually a BZK-005 more than a Pterodactyl.

 

E il giorno prima: (anche se non rientra nella categoria UAV)

 

 

 

Chinese bombers skirt Japanese islands. And get intercepted by F-15 fighter jets.

Sep 09 2013 -

On Sept. 8, two Chinese H-6 bombers, reportedly PLAN (People Liberation Army Navy) H-6Gs, flew in international airspace between the Miyako and Okinawa before returning to the East China Sea.

Even if the two bombers flew 300 km off the coast of Okinawa, the Japan Air Self Defense Force scrambled some F-15 fighter jets from Naha, to intercept and escort the Chinese aircraft.

Earlier this year, in July, a Chinese plane flew through the Nansei Islands, the chain of islands extending between Kyushu and Taiwan in southwest Japan.
Recently, Japan accused Russia for an alleged violation of Tokyo’s airspace by Russian Air Force Tu-95 bombers.

Modificato 15 Settembre 2013 da fabio-22raptor

[cloyce]

http://news.cntv.cn/2013/11/21/VIDE1385044320165116.shtml

 

Il UCAV Lijian, compie con successo il primo volo

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Passano da un successo all'altro.