Technological advances have made unmanned vehicle an attractive deal
At least five countries are negotiating with China on buying its domestically developed WingLoong drone.
"Wing Loong is quite competitive in the international market and we have delivered it to up tothree clients," Ma Zhiping, general manager of China National Aero-Technology Import andExport Corp, said at the 50th International Paris Air Show.
Ma's company is the biggest exporter of aviation defense products in China and has a strongpresence in the military aircraft market. It belongs to Aviation Industry Corp of China, thecountry's leading aircraft manufacturer.
Established in 1909, the Paris Air Show is held every odd-numbered year at Le Bourget Airportin north Paris. This year's show started on Monday and will last through Sunday.
Ma said clients' feedback on Wing Loong is "very positive".
"They told us that they are satisfied with the drone's performance. Their uses of the WingLoong have testified to its excellent combat capability, supreme maneuverability as well asconvenience of maintenance," he said, quoting users as saying that the drone's actualperformance has "surpassed its design specifications".
According to CATIC, Wing Loong was developed independently by China with full intellectualproperty to meet the requirement of the international market. The project was started in 2005and its maiden flight took place in 2007. The drone's mockup was unveiled at the ZhuhaiAirshow in 2008 and a production type was displayed at the same air show in 2012, drawingintense attention from aviation enthusiasts and foreign military observers.
It can perform a wide range of tasks such as precision strikes and long-duration, long-distancereconnaissance. In June 2006, the government gave the green light to its export.
In addition to military purposes, the unmanned aerial vehicle can also serve an array of civiland scientific purposes such as disaster assessment, environmental protection, andatmospheric and meteorological research, the company said.
The drone boasts a range of more than 3,000 kilometers and a payload of 200 kilograms.
All the techniques used on Wing Loong were developed by Chinese researchers without anyforeign assistance, said Nie Haitao, deputy director of AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Design andResearch Institute, which designed the drone.
"In the initial stage of Wing Loong's development, only nine researchers were designated totake part in this work and most of them were young professionals without much experience," herecalled. "Yet they succeeded and now you can see they have done a good job."
The United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan have introduced an unidentified number of WingLoong drones, according to Kanwa Defense Review, a Canadian online magazine of defenseaffairs and weapon technology.
"Currently five to six nations in Africa and Asia have expressed their intention of buying WingLoong and we are negotiating over that," Ma said.
He added several foreign countries have told his company that they want to introduce Chinesedrones that are even more advanced than Wing Loong, but whether those types could beexported is up to government policy and political decisions.
"Of course we, as a defense products supplier, are willing to introduce more of our cutting-edge weapons to the international market. But it is the government that has the final say."
Seeing a bright picture of Chinese drones in the global market, aviation experts said peopleshould be reminded that China still lags behind in many aspects in the UAV industry.
China is still unable to produce an unmanned aerial vehicle that can rival the United States'RQ-4 Global Hawk, according to Wang Yangzhu, deputy director of the Unmanned AircraftSystem Institute under Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
"If we rank the automation capabilities of UAV with 10 being the highest score, China can onlyget five or six," he said.
"The capability of a UAV should not be judged merely by its speed and altitude, its ability inperforming varied missions makes more sense."
Wang's institute is one of the three academic institutes in China that specialize in UAVs. Theother two are in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Jiangsu province andNorthwestern Polytechnical University in Shaanxi province.
He said China's efforts to develop advanced drones are being haunted by a long-time inabilityin resolving some key technologies including engines and data links, noting the country'saviation industry needs to solve a host of technical blocks.
"Though we are able to manufacture UAVs on our own, we can't produce those as advanced asthe RQ-4 Global Hawk, which is now the top drone before the Northrop Grumman X-47B entersinto service. The most outstanding obstacle confronting us remains the engine problem."
He explained that the data link and airborne electronic devices used on Chinese drones still lagbehind those of their US counterparts.
In contrast to Wang's words, many foreign military observers said Chinese drones are fairlycompetitive in the international market in terms of technical characteristics, performance andprice.
Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief at Defense News, said in an earlier report on VOA's websitethat Chinese drones, many of which are specifically produced for the export market, are veryattractive for many developing nations.
"(The US) drone exports are very expensive platforms, very sophisticated. The Chineseproduce a much cheaper variety that basically does the same job," said Minnick. "The Chinese... are looking at an export market that's growing."
"China has ramped up research in recent years faster than any other country. It displayed itsfirst unmanned system model at the Zhuhai air show five years ago, and now every majormanufacturer for the Chinese military has a research center devoted to unmanned systems," areport published in July by the Defense Science Board, an experts panel charged with advisingthe US Department of Defense on scientific and technical issues, was quoted by The New YorkTimes as saying.
"(China) could ... rapidly close the technology gaps and become a formidable global competitorin unmanned systems."
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