China’s latest stealth endurance drone, CH-7, completes maiden flight

China’s latest long-endurance stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the CH-7, has completed its maiden flight, further expanding Beijing’s rapidly growing arsenal of autonomous weapons.\nState broadcaster CCTV said on Monday that China’s new high-altitude, high-speed, long-endurance CH-7 had recently completed its first flight.\nThe drone offered long endurance, stealth and high cruising speed, meeting the needs of ground observation, data support and communication under complex conditions, the report said.\n\n\nCCTV said it would undergo further tests, including flight performance envelope verification and payload function validation.\nThe CH series of UAVs developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), is one of China’s bestselling UAVs on the international market.\nIt was first introduced to the public in 2018, when a full-scale model was displayed at the Zhuhai air show amid speculation it was a long-range reconnaissance and strike UAV. An actual CH-7 was displayed during last year’s Zhuhai air show.\nThe CH-7’s design has undergone continuous modifications, and the latest official report stated that the aircraft would only be used for reconnaissance.\n“The current version of the CH-7 is a high-speed reconnaissance aircraft,” Fang Shuai, one of the drone’s designers, told CCTV in May.\nFang said the CH-7’s unique feature lay in its flying-wing configuration, which allowed for a high degree of wing-body integration, ensuring maximum stealth capabilities without compromising aerodynamic performance. The CH-7’s engine air intakes are above the fuselage, while the engine exhaust nozzles employ a semi-concealed design.\nIn the footage, the low-observable flying wing design integrates the wing and fuselage, giving the aircraft a wide and flat appearance.\nFang said the CH-7 could quickly penetrate target areas for reconnaissance and use its stealth to promptly send information from the front lines of the battlefield to manned aircraft and long-range strike forces, providing target guidance.\n\n\n\n\nA CCTV report in 2018 said the model had been set to conduct its maiden flight in 2019, but subsequent reports suggested it had undergone several design modifications.\nThe wingspan of this high-altitude long-endurance aircraft has increased from 22 metres (72 feet) to 27.3 metres, and the maximum take-off weight has been reduced from 13 tonnes to 8 tonnes, according to the most recent specifications. Its cruising speed is now Mach 0.5, its service ceiling is around 16,000 metres, and its maximum endurance is 16 hours.\nIts reconnaissance radius is believed by analysts to exceed 2,000km (1,242 miles).\nLast year, another designer told CCTV that the CH-7 design had been modified to enable covert reconnaissance missions in high-risk areas, eliminating the weapons bay, improving stealth capabilities, increasing wingspan and reducing weight.\nHe said the CH-7’s stealth capabilities were comparable to the United States’ RQ-180 stealth unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.\nIn 2016, People’s Daily said the series offered China’s “bestselling drones” and that more than 10 countries had bought models. Other reports named countries buying the drones, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Nigeria.\nState media hailed their adaptability to missions, ability to carry multiple weapons and relatively low price.\n\n\nThe CH-7 is the latest to join China’s rapidly growing arsenal of autonomous weapons.\nThe large, general-purpose Jiu Tian drone platform completed its maiden flight on Thursday. Dubbed an “airborne aircraft carrier”, it is capable of carrying a large number of smaller drones.\nChina showcased several new uncrewed models at its Victory Day parade in September, including loyal wingmen, collaborative combat aircraft and drone combat vehicles.\n