AVIC has conducted the maiden flight of its in-development Wing Loong ID UAV, a type targeted at the export market.

The 30-minute sortie was conducted on 23 December at an unspecified airport “in the west,” says AVIC in a statement.

The statement adds that the aircraft is entirely made of composites, and that its basic payload is an electro-optical pod and a synthetic aperture radar. It has four hard points that can accommodate 10 types of missiles or bombs.

Missions include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), border patrol, counter-terrorism, and anti-smuggling. The Wing Loong ID is also suited to missions such as resource surveys, pipeline inspections, and the monitoring of natural disaster situations.

The Wing Loong ID is based on the Wing Loong I, which appeared at Airshow China in Zhuhai in 2012, and has been filmed flying and destroying targets with missiles.

Separately, state news agency Xinhua reports that on 25 December AVIC held an event to celebrate the 100th Wing Loong series UAV for the export market.

The report says that the Wing Loong series has been used for anti-terrorist operations and surveillance.

Source: FlightGlobal.com

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