Thursday, November 8, 2018

China Is Dominating The Global Market For Combat Drones (By Copying U.S. Technology)

CASIC's newest Tian Ying drone. Chinese Internet

Defense One: China’s Beating the US to Market on Combat Drones, By Copying US Technology

America seems to have squandered a 10-year head start.

The mockup of China’s CH-7 combat drone unveiled at Zhuhai Airshow this week looks a lot like one the U.S. Navy was developing — until it dropped the project, allowing China to position itself to beat the U.S. and other allies in fielding a long-range, high-altitude combat drone. That’s despite the fact that—in the words of one expert—the United States had a “ten-year head start.”

If the CH-7 makes its first flight next year and stays on track, it “will be the sole option for buyers wanting to field stealth combat drones” in 2022, crowed China Daily, citing “sources.” It will also be the sole option for buyers looking to purchase an aircraft carrier-capable combat drone (according to China’s state-run Global Times) that looks like the X-47B, an experimental drone that U.S. weapons-maker Northrop Grumman developed for the Navy.

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WNU Editor: And I am willing to bet that these Chinese drones are cheaper.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cheaper but way more reliable...

Anonymous said...

Of course they are cheaper - they don't have to offset billions of research costs. They steal the plans for under <$150k investment/year(!) in hacking staff. EACH brings in a few million in stolen IP on average. the profit margin is higher than selling crack cocaine. China is high on stealing US Intellectual Property, and I hope Trump - the anti drug guy he is - stops China this way too. It needs to stop.

Jac said...

Well, I don't know neither the level of their quality standard, nor the level of their equivalent of our "military standard". That is what make all the difference, not the appearance.