However, until today there has been no confirmation to suggest that the PLAAF is adopting this high high-altitude UAV -- this recent photo of Xianglong in PLAAF color suggests that the program is advancing to next stage of development.
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
Xianglong UAV conductes its maiden flight.
Guizhou Aviation Group (GAV) announces (here) and (Here) that the maiden flight of the Xianglong UAV has been successfully conducted on November 7th 2009 at 12:21 PM. The maiden flight took place at the Anshun airport and lasted 18 minutes.Xianglong, or the Chinese HQ-4 Global Hawk, is a joint venture between the Guizhou Aviation Group and the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute (CADI). It was first unveiled at the 2006 Zhuhai air show and completed its high-speed taxing tests in 2008. The fuselage, vertical and power plant of the Xianglong was designed by the GAV and the job of testing, manufacture and final assembly was handled by the CADI.
4 comments:
This greyish black seems to be the new standard paint colour for all latest PLAAF aerial vehicles.
The Xiang Long apparently uses the Turbojet Wp-14 engine, that is why the range is only 7000km. When it is refitted with a turbofan engine, it's range will be extended. It is almost the same size as the Global Hawk.
Perhaps the PLAAF should rename it to “regional hawk” as China does not require a global reach for its HALE, well not yet. Adding an imported or untested turbofan would add extra R&D time in addition to cost. I am sure China can roll those WP-14 out cheap.
They are working on this because the beidou system is predicted to provide full east asia-pacific region coverage by 2012 ish. When complete global coverage is achieved around 2020 you'll see their global hawk unveiled.
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