BEIJING, Sep 28 (Asia Free Press): Airshow China 2021’s opening ceremony that held on Tuesday, has attracted attention worldwide, state-run media said
Chinese authorities showcased several of the most advanced China-made drones making their debuts, including the GJ-11 prototype, WZ-7 and WZ-8, which first appeared at the military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 2019, and experts said this shows China’s full confidence in its world-class unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, Global Times reported.
The Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC), producer of the drones, told the Global Times in a statement that the GJ-11 is an advanced flying-wing combat UAV with strong capabilities of stealth, penetration and precision strike, and it can be used to attack enemy targets despite intense electronic countermeasures, conduct offensive air domination missions and contain hostile air defenses.
The AVIC also brought two WZ-7s to the show, with one in the exhibition hall and the other outside for public viewing.
This UAV is used for aerodynamic configuration gathering image intelligence as well as tactical reconnaissance missions, according to the AVIC.
The WZ-7 uses the “Φ type” tandem-wing aerodynamic configuration, the first time that such a design has been used for aircraft in the world. This UAV has been used in all kinds of environments and its reliability has been proven, and it’s “the second drone that can freely cross civil aviation routes,” the AVIC said.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times that “freely crossing civil aviation routes means that the drone’s flight duration and range are as long as those of civilian aircraft.
Normally, a civilian airliner can fly more than a dozen hours and more than 10,000 kilometers, so the WZ-7 can also stay in the air for more than a dozen hours and conduct inter-continental flights.”The first drone with such capability in the world was the US-made Global Hawk, which can fly more than 10,000 kilometers, Song said.
