While China may be excelling in the commercial drone sector, they seem to be floundering when it comes to their military drone designs.  On July 1st, 2019 the Jordanian government will be auctioning off the entire fleet of Rainbow CH-4B drones they had purchased from China less than 2 years ago.  Though they haven’t given any specifications as to why they are getting rid of the drones, they did state that the drones were a disappointment.  CH-4B drone is basically a reproduction of the American made MQ-9 Reaper drone.  The Chinese have sold fleets of this drone to numerous Middle Eastern countries, though only Jordan has come forward with complaints so far.  So what makes the Chinese drone different than the American one?

MQ-9 was built by General Atomics based out of Poway, CA.  They specialize in radar solutions and UAVs for the US military.  The Reaper is an upgrade of the highly successful MQ-1 Predator drone.  The Predator was first introduced in 1995 and has banked over 2 million hours of flight time.  In 2007 the Reaper was introduced.  The Reaper is in the HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) category of drones.  It is 36ft long and has a 65ft wing span.  It can reach altitudes of 25,000ft with a range of 1,151mi, and a flight time of roughly 24hr.  It uses laser technology to fire on targets with precision and can carry around 3,000lbs of munitions.  While originally contracted for the US military, the Reaper has also been contracted out to the Italian and Royal Air Forces.

Though the Chinese CH-4B closely resembles the MQ-9 Reaper in design and purpose, there are differences.  It was built by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, a state owned manufacturer of aircrafts.  The CH-B4 is 29ft long with a 58ft wing span.  It can reach altitudes of 26,000ft and can fly for an impressive 38 hr.  It too uses laser technology and can fire on targets within an accuracy of a 5ft radius.  It can carry upwards of 760lbs of munitions.

Both drones were designed to be used for military patrol, surveillance, and as the role of a hunter-killer weapon.  It seems however, that the Chinese rushed to put together the CH-4B so as to be able to start selling it off to more nations without drone design capabilities like Algeria, Nigeria, Jordan, Zambia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Myanmar, all of whom have fleets of the CH-4B.  Meanwhile, the Reaper comes from a long line of highly tested and successful military specific drones.

Just as General Atomics has gone through several versions of it’s original Predator drone up to the Reaper, CASTC has also made several adaptations of the CH-4B drone.  They just don’t seem to having the success that the Chinese government had hoped for.  Perhaps they should take some design ques from the Chinese commercial drone giant, DJI.

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