China's high-altitude, stealthy CH-7 drone made its maiden flight.

Chinese high-altitude, high-speed, stealth aircraft UAV The CH-7 (also known as the Caihong-7 or Rainbow-7) has completed its maiden flight. This UAV was first unveiled (as a full-size mockup) at the Zhuhai Air Show in November 2018. The developer noted:

With its long endurance, high altitude, high cruising speed and powerful capabilities, it meets the highest requirements for reconnaissance and data collection in challenging environments.

According to the local publication Global Times, the drone uses a complex tailless "flying wing" design, which could negatively impact the aircraft's directional stability. Therefore, the primary goal of the maiden flight (along with testing advanced technologies) was to validate the UAV's design.

According to the developer, CASC Corporation, the test flight results were very successful and fully met the specified performance characteristics and modeling results.

The CH-7 is said to have "exceptional stealth," allowing it to operate in radar-intensive environments. Defense. The on-board radar allows for long-range surveillance of air and sea space, which makes it possible drone provide target designation.

According to Chinese experts, the CH-7's aerodynamic design suggests its relatively low flight speed compared to modern fighters. Therefore, it is unlikely to be used as a close-support drone.

As noted in the Western press, the CH-7's performance characteristics changed during its development. In 2022, they listed a length of approximately 10 meters, a wingspan of 22 to 26 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 10-13 kg, a maximum speed of approximately 920 km/h, a ceiling of approximately 13 m, an endurance of approximately 15 hours, a range of approximately 2000 km, a payload of 2000 kg, and an estimated range of over 11,5 km.

Comments

[expert]

This is the third article about heavy Chinese drones in the last four days. Just like Yaroslav Smelyakov:He lies down with this name, and he gets up with this name."...

[Pravodel]

This is the third article about heavy Chinese drones in the last four days.

We haven't heard anything about our heavy drones of this type, capable of staying in the air for at least 15-24 hours.
For your information:
RQ-4 Global Hawks fly for 30-40+ hours, while MQ-9 Reaper attack aircraft fly for about 30-42 hours.

[APASUS]

Quote: The Truth

For your information:
RQ-4 Global Hawks fly for 30-40+ hours, while MQ-9 Reaper attack aircraft fly for about 30-42 hours.

Are you part of the American F-35 fan sect? What's so immodest about adding that?

[Pravodel]

Dear APASUS (Pavo), could you please explain what the sex of American F-35 enthusiasts has to do with this, and also modesty...

[APASUS]

Quote: The Truth

What does sex have to do with it?

There is no sex here!
And the cult here is considering you've immodestly added flight time to the performance characteristics, which is like the Fu-35. Some people here like to talk about how unrivaled this super-duper plane is, while everyone else is just... crap... well, you get the idea.

[Pravodel]

And in addition.
Could you explain what the F-35 has to do with the drones: the Chinese one is on top, the US RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper are on the bottom...

[APASUS]

Quote: The Truth

Could you please explain what the F-35 has to do with this?

Again

Quote: APASUS

You added immodestly to the performance characteristics, flight time,

Quote: The Truth

It's like with the Fu-35. Some people here like to talk about how unrivaled a super-duper aircraft it is.

[Pravodel]

You added immodestly to the performance characteristics, flight time,

It's not me, but here. Look below. Maybe they lied, or maybe it's true. Who knows, these Anglo-Saxons...
https://www.google.com/search?q=%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA+%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%BE+%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%83%D1%82+%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%8F+%D0%B2+%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B4%D1%83%D1%85%D0%B5+%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8+%D1%81%D1%88%D0%B0&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgAECMYJxjqAjIJCAAQIxgnGOoCMgkIARAjGCcY6gIyCQgCECMYJxjqAjIPCAMQIxgnGOoCGPAFGJ4GMgkIBBAjGCcY6gIyCQgFECMYJxjqAjIJCAYQIxgnGOoCMgkIBxAjGCcY6gLSAQkyNDIwajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBeOj5-uN2n8M&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[APASUS]

Quote: The Truth

Maybe they lied, or maybe it's true. Who knows, these Anglo-Saxons...

Of course they're lying. I just got this info from quora.com.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk for example can fly for a reported 42 hours and 14,000 NM, and can survey an area the size of South Korea or Ireland, per day.

And in our version

The estimated flight range is over 11,5 km. Flight duration is approximately 15 hours.

With relatively identical data, the time difference is twofold. Someone is definitely lying.

[smart fellow]

For your information:
RQ-4 Global Hawk 34+ hrs, 629 km/h, range 22,800 km
Chinese analogue Chengdu WZ-7 Xianglong "Soaring Dragon" 950 km/h, range 7000 km.
MQ-9 Reaper 27 hours
Chinese analogue of CASC Rainbow CH-5 60 hours.

[Pravodel]

Good references. They would look even better compared to our similar vehicles... But...

[mvbmvbmvb]

Sorry, the arithmetic doesn't quite add up, at least not with the Soviet arithmetic I learned in school and beyond. 629 x 34 = 21386. And it can't fly at max speed all the time, so even adding 34 hours won't help. And why does the Dragon have such a range? It was cited as an analog to the Global.

[smart fellow]

It really doesn't match. The RQ-4's cruising speed is 570 km/h, which gives it a range of 19,380 km. I got the data from the English-language Wikipedia, but apparently the speed and range figures were taken from different sources.

The data on the Dragon is also from the wiki, and Google AI chose it as an analogue.

[Vitaly.17]

Quote: Fachmann

This is the third article about heavy Chinese problems in the last four days.

It's better to read about China's achievements than to see photos of Ukrainian Fuhrer Zelenyuk, who is long past his prime both in his position and in life, in articles several times a day.

[Mikhail Ivanov]

I agree with you! It's high time to abolish the Jester, and for us to focus on developing our own aviation.
According to the design, it looks like the old Matrasov U-2...

[bayard]

Quote: Fachmann

This is the third article about heavy Chinese drones in the last four days.

A good aircraft for long-range maritime reconnaissance and target designation. Incidentally, here's a tip for us: the S-70 Okhotnik could be used with a similar wing to create an excellent long-range reconnaissance and target designation aircraft. The engine could be without the afterburner, the ELINT equipment, and the Belka-M1-based search radar. And building such a jack-of-all-trades from an existing Okhotnik would be quick, inexpensive, and very practical.

[Mikhail Ivanov]

I agree! We have the groundwork, but implementation has historically lagged. And not just in aircraft manufacturing... Because there are corrupt officials and bureaucrats everywhere. There are more of them now than under Brezhnev...

[bayard]

Quote: Mikhail-Ivanov

implementation has historically lagged.

Well, the "Okhotnik" was built in a more or less acceptable timeframe. We need reliable broadband satellite communications to control and monitor such devices. It's starting to be deployed now. If this happens, we'll move into a completely new dimension.
But recalculating the airframe and making a new extended wing with a small sweep is not difficult and can be done within the timeframe while the satellite constellation is being deployed in orbit.

Quote: Mikhail-Ivanov

There are corrupt officials and bureaucrats everywhere. There are more of them now than under Brezhnev...

Brezhnev's "corrupt officials" would now seem to you like immaculate archangels with wings and halos.

[Mikhail Ivanov]

Well, I'm saying the same thing: there are some objections, the technical documentation is there, but the implementation is rare. There's the example of Geranium, where they were able to scale up production.
I had a good laugh about the halos and archangels!)))

[IGU]

There's one caveat! Hunter can't be called finished in any way.

[bayard]

Quote: IGU

The Hunter can in no way be called ready-made.

Why would that be? It's entirely possible—their pre-production batch is already flying, being used, and fighting. More specifically, it detects and suppresses enemy air defenses.

[IGU]

Please tell us the time when it was adopted into service?
And if it’s not accepted, it means it’s not ready.

[IGU]

Please tell us the time when it was adopted into service?
And if it’s not accepted, it means it’s not ready.
I didn't see or hear how it detects and suppresses air defenses, but I did see how this device decided to escape to enemy territory and was shot down by a Su-57 on October 5, 2024.

[IbukiSuika]

Frankly, I absolutely adore the looks of the Rainbow 7 flying wing—it struck me as utterly stunning when the B-2 bomber first appeared. Of course, looks don't necessarily dictate a weapon's combat effectiveness. According to Chinese news reports, the Rainbow 7 appears to be evolving into an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, providing information support for manned aircraft rather than carrying weapons for strikes.

[Maikcg]

The onboard radar allows for long-range surveillance of air and sea space.

That is, the air defense radar does not notice it, but the fact that it shines on the ground like a microwave oven is something else to understand.

[agond]

With dimensions of 10 m in length, 22-26 m in wingspan, and 10-13 thousand kg in weight, they suggest believing in “exceptional stealth”,