China’s CH-5 Rainbow drone more lethal than US Reaper

China’s CH-5 Rainbow drone more lethal than US Reaper and its also a lot cheaper

China’s CH-5 Rainbow drone more lethal than US Reaper

China has unveiled its deadliest drone so far, with the maker of the unmanned vehicle, which can carry up to 16 missiles, boasting that it would leave the US’s notorious Reaper drone “in the dust”. The mass-production model of the CH-5 Rainbow, with its 21-metre wingspan and capacity to carry 1,000kg of equipment, made its first flight at an airshow in northern Hebei province last Friday. Created by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation mainly to be sold abroad, the drone could cost half the price of a Reaper, experts say. According to Chinese state media, previous drones in the Rainbow series have been sold to countries including Egypt, Burma, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. … Full Story

Wang Song, an associate professor with the school of aeronautic science and engineering at Beihang University, said the first flight of a mass-produced CH-5 Rainbow on Friday last week meant China was ready to offer international buyers a heavy military drone with performance equalling that of the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper but at around half the cost

The Reaper, or Predator B, was the world’s first unmanned aerial vehicle that could attack targets on the ground.

At US$16.9 million, according to a 2013 US budget report, it was also the world’s most expensive drone.

“The CH-5 may come in at less than half of the price,” said Wang, who was deputy chief designer of a Chinese military drone but not directly involved in the Rainbow project.

The Rainbow series, ranging from the tiny model 1 to the three-tonne model 5, was developed and produced by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the company behind the space programme. Rainbows have been sold to more than a dozen countries, with annual production exceeding 200 units, and are the “most popular military drones in the world”, according to the company’s website.

However, the initial output of the CH-5 would be relatively small, Wang said. It could be more than 10 units a year but was unlikely to exceed 20 due to the size and sophistication of the aircraft.

“This should meet the early demand,” Wang said.

The Rainbows are mainly for the overseas market.

In 2015, the Iraqi Ministry of Defence released a video showing a missile attack on an Islamic State target by a CH-4B drone, which is just a third of the size of the CH-5.

The CH-5 can carry up to 16 air-to-ground missiles

And stay in the air for nearly two days, saidShi-Wenn, the chief designer of the drone, in an interview with Global Times last year.

After being modified for certain missions, it can fly for up to 120 hours, giving it a range of more than 10,000km.

This endurance enabled the drone to fly to a target 3,000km away and stay overhead for up to 20 hours, Shi told the state-run newspaper.

Such performance “leaves the Predator series in the dust”, he added. Full Story

Maybe this is true, and maybe it’s not, but what matters the most is the price. Moreover, with time China will continue to develop even more sophisticated units and sell them at a price that is far cheaper than those made in the US. Even if one unit is not on par with a top US drone; two of them certainly are, and the price for two is probably less than the price for one drone made in the US. The same analogy can be used with Russian Sukhoi fighter jets, their price is so much lower than F35, that you could buy up two Su35 and still have about 30 million in change to spare. There is simply no way one F-35 could outgun two Su35’s. The servicing costs are significantly lower too so when you add that in, there is enough money to buy 3 Su35’s for the price one F35. Russia is also giving a volume discount; the final cost could drop from 75 million to 50 million a unit.

Does China’s new CH-5 Rainbow drone leave US Reaper in the dust