Flight International – 11 June 2019

62 | Flight International | 11-17 June 2019 flightglobal.com

PARIS

Special report

T

he missile races to a target high
above, accompanied by the exclama-
tion: “Allahu Akbar!” Shortly after
its launch there is a puff of white
smoke, much to the delight of the men on the
ground, Houthi rebels in Yemen. A crippled
unmanned air vehicle (UAV) falls to the earth,
trailing smoke, before the YouTube video cuts

GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE

Greg Waldron/FlightGlobal

China flying

drone wars

While most countries that make armed UAVs are signed

up to international export restrictions, Beijing remains a

freewheeling aerial arms dealer – with unbeatable prices

AVIC’s 2017 Paris air show display

featured a Wing Loon II mock-up

to dozens of villagers celebrating at the site of

the crash.

They pour dirt to stop the flames and even

stomp on the business end of an air-to-surface

missile under the aircraft’s wing. The men

curse the USA and Israel as they tear at the

wreckage.

But the downed UAV came from neither

country. It was, in fact, an AVIC Wing Loong I

apparently operated by Saudi Arabia or the

United Arab Emirates (UAE), coalition part-

ners in the Yemen conflict. The villager who

detached the missile’s warhead and bran-

dished it as a trophy would have noticed that it

was also Chinese: a Norinco Blue Arrow 7.

FORGING AHEAD

The export of medium-altitude, long-endur-

ance (MALE) UAVs has been a distinct bright

spot in China’s efforts to join the ranks of the

world’s leading defence aerospace exporters.

According to figures from the Stockholm In-

ternational Peace Research Institute (SIPRI),

which tracks global arms flows, China export-

ed 163 large, weapons-capable UAVs to 13

countries from 2008 to 2018 (see table, P64).

In comparison, SIPRI data suggests that US

manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical

Systems delivered just 15 MQ-9 Reaper sys-

tems to international customers in the past 10

years, with outstanding international orders

for 28 additional examples. UAV giant Israel

has exported about 167 MALE UAVs of the

Hermes and Heron series during the same pe-

riod, for intelligence, surveillance and recon-

naissance duties, not attack roles.

In recent years, China National Aero-

Technology Import & Export Corporation

(CATIC) has had a prominent presence at