China’s New Rainbow Drones Soon For Sale

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China is now marketing its newest combat UAV from the Rainbow series, the CH-5 model. It is similar to the American MQ-9 Reaper, but is a bit light at 2,720 kg to the Reaper’s 4,170. The CH-5 has a payload of 900 kg and can carry smart bombs and laser guided missiles (like the American Hellfire). It has a flight endurance of up to 20 hours, and after its first flight in 2015 should be available for delivery in late 2016.

The CH-5’s predecessor, the CH-4, which debuted in 2012 was also armed. It is similar looking to the American Predator and weighs around 1,000 kg, has a 14 metre wingspan, and is 9 metres tall. With a max altitude of 5,300 metres it can carry on flying for more than 14 hours.

The CH-4 can be armed with four under-wing weapons or electronic devices, each weighing up to 100 kg. The Chinese-made weapons available for the CH-4 include the AR-1, a Hellfire clone. The AR-1 can be equipped with either laser guidance or GPS, has a 10 kg warhead, and weighing in at 45 kg has a maximum range of 10 kilometres.

Another of the CH-4 weapons is a clone of the American small diameter bomb (SDB). The SDB is a 128 kg GPS guided glide bomb with a penetrating warhead.

The Chinese versions of American armed drones are significantly cheaper, coming in at about half the price. But as always, you get what you pay for, and the Chinese versions are not as smooth or bug-free as their American originals.