China has tested its first stealth combat drone, state media said Friday, citing online photos of an aircraft resembling a shrunken US B2 bomber and hailing the development toward Western-level technology.
The test flight of the “Sharp Sword” unmanned aircraft is another step in China’s years-long military build-up, with its defence spending now the second one highest on this planet and growing by double-digit percentages once a year.
It comes weeks after Tokyo said a drone had flown near East China Sea islands claimed by both it and Beijing, ratcheting tensions between the rivals up another notch.
“The successful flight shows the nation has again narrowed the air-power disparity between itself and Western nations,” the China Daily newspaper said, adding the flight made China the “fourth power… able to putting a stealth drone into the sky”.
Images posted online showed a swish grey delta-wing aircraft apparently powered by a jet engine and resembling an American combat drone.
Beijing is steadily building its military muscle and unveiled its first stealth fighter, the J-20, in early 2011, though it’s not expected to go into service until 2018.
China’s first aircraft carrier — refurbished vessel purchased from Ukraine and named the Liaoning — went into service in Sept 2012, but isn’t expected to be fully operational for several years.
The Sharp Sword may very well be intended for eventual use with the aircraft carrier and for “long endurance” surveillance missions, said Rick Fisher, a senior fellow on the US-based think tank International Assessment and Strategy Center.
“This demonstrates the big investment that China is making toward building a worldwide class level of military power,” he said in an email.
This variety of aircraft “will greatly complicate the defence” of different countries, including Japan and the united states, he added.
A drone was on the centre of a up to date spat between Beijing and Tokyo, whose dispute over islands often known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese has raised concerns of conflict.
An unidentified unmanned aircraft flew near the islands in September, where China routinely conducts maritime patrols, prompting Japan to scramble fighter jets.
The aircraft came from the northwest and returned in that direction, a Japanese defence official said.
Tokyo later threatened to shoot down this sort of aircraft, a move that Beijing warned would amount to an “act of war”.
Chinese state media widely reported the hot aircraft in close detail, although they said the test-flight was first revealed by ordinary Internet users on a favored military web forum cjdby.net.
Chinese authorities quickly censor any news or images exposed online by citizens that they deem sensitive, so it’s unlikely they didn’t approve the reports.
State broadcaster CCTV, citing eyewitnesses, said on its international channel that the test flight lasted 20 minutes on Thursday afternoon within the southwestern city of Chengdu.
The flight “implies that China has made the leap from drones to combat drones”, it said, calling it the move of “major significance”.
Hong Kong-based military expert Andrei Chang said that by producing a heavy combat drone China had achieved a milestone claimed by few countries, but added that the aircraft’s design appeared “a little bit naive”.
Unlike the yankee version, the engine seemed to be exposed, which might reduce its stealth capabilities, said Chang, editor of the Kanwa Defence Review Monthly, adding that China didn’t have “enough experience” inside the field.
The aircraft was developed by two subsidiaries of Aviation Industry Corp of China, the country’s top aircraft manufacturer, the China Daily said.
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