America has its MQ-1 Predator drone, which can dispatch Hellfire missiles, and the even more heavily armed MQ-9 Reaper.
But one of the scariest-looking unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) ever was just unveiled – and it belongs to China.
At Airshow China 2016 last week, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation allowed a close-up look at a prototype of its Cai Hong 5 UAV, which can carry up to 16 air-to-ground missiles – making it China’s most powerfully armed remotely piloted aircraft, according to the military information website IHC Jane’s 360.
The CH-5 has almost a 68-foot wingspan, can carry a 2,646-pound payload, flies as high as 30,000 feet, has “operating endurance” of up to 60 hours and can be controlled by satellite as far away as 1,243 miles. Jane’s said.
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But San Diego-based General Atomics, which makes various versions of the Predator and the Reaper for the U.S. military, has an answer: The Predator C Avenger, which was scheduled to begin flight testing in September.
The Avenger has a 76-foot wingspan, can “house 3,500 pounds of precision munitions,” flies as high as 50,000 feet, and while its “endurance” of up to a maximum of 20 hours is less than the CH-5, it’s more than twice as fast.
