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China's Global Hawk revealed

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Doug Barrie posted the photo above on the Ares blog last week. The picture shows a relatively new Chinese UAV obviously designed (see high-aspect ratio wing) for high-altitude operations.

The UAV is likely the BZK-005. It hasn't received much press in the West, but is well-known on indigenous Chinese defense blogs. See reference on the cnair.top81.cn blog's UAV page below:

BZK-005 was developed by BUAA and HAIG in 2005 as a medium/high altitude long range reconnaissance UAV. It was unveiled briefly in an AVIC promotional video at the 2006 Zhuhai International Airshow. The UAV features a stealth optimized fuselage and twin tailfins tilted outwards to reduce RCS. A large SATCOM antenna is thought to be installed inside the nose bulge, which provides live data transmission over thousands of kilometers. A small turret is installed underneath the nose housing the FLIR/CCD cameras. Those can be used for photo reconnaissance if needed. The UAV also features wings of a large wingspan and a fuel efficient poston engine, and is constructed using large amount of composite materials. These help to increase its range and cruising altitude, while reduce its RCS. Some specifications: cruising speed 150-180km/hr, service ceiling 8,000m, endurance 40hr, max TO weight <1,250kg, max payload >150kg, TO distance <600m, landing distance <500m.
There are also good references to the BZK-005 on Chinese-language military blogs. You can read Google-translated versions of the BZK-005 pages here and here, but look out for a not-safe-for-work-image at the bottom of the former page.

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5 Comments

Distiller

What relay sat would they use? Commercial?


Puppethead

Not so sure about the stealthiness of the prop, though...

Puppethead

Not so sure about the stealthiness of the prop, though...

Service ceiling of 25,000 feet? It's a whale of a Predator in my book!

Mike Plunkett

Looks like it has more than a little Heron in its heritage to me.

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