Malcolm Davis
China is clearly thinking ambitiously about long-range power projection with autonomous aircraft.
Pictures have emerged of large new Chinese uncrewed aircraft of a configuration remarkably like the United States’ B-2A Spirit and B-21 Raider bombers. This is prompting speculation that this design, too, is for a bomber.
Commercial satellite imagery captured the aircraft at China’s secretive Malan air base in Xinjiang province, reports The War Zone, referring to the type as the GJ-X. Disclosure of the design follows revelation in June of the CH-7 uncrewed aircraft, of similar dimensions, which could be a high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
While there are similarities between the designs, the GJ-X, if that’s really its designation, differs significantly from the CH-7 design.
These large uncrewed aircraft could support the Chinese military’s counter-intervention strategy, through provision of data on enemy whereabouts and activities, by conducting electromagnetic warfare and by making long-range strikes against land and maritime targets.
The design and size of both suggests long range, high endurance and stealth. That could also imply air operations as the airborne leg of China’s emerging nuclear triad.
The CH-7 and the GJ-X add to a comprehensive suite of uncrewed aircraft that China is developing. Numerous types were on display during a military parade in Beijing on 3 September. These included two fighter-like drones, similar in size to the J-10C crewed fighter and described during the parade as ‘unmanned air domination planes’.
It’s notable how fast China has gone from having no autonomous air capability to platforms such as the CH-7, GJ-X and high-performance combat drones—apparently in barely more than a decade.
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