Chinese PLAGF operationalises KVD002 UCAV

The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) began inducting the KVD002 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) in 2023. (Janes)

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has aired footage for the first time showing a People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) KVD002 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) conducting a live-fire strike on a small naval vessel.

The footage, broadcast on 31 July in a CCTV documentary commemorating the 99th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), “signals that [the KVD002] has achieved full combat and support capabilities”, the state-owned Global Times newspaper said.

The documentary showed 13 KVD002 UCAVs at an unidentified airbase in southern China. None were shown carrying weapons.

According to the documentary, the strike took place during a joint military exercise. A KVD002 was dispatched on an armed reconnaissance operation off China's southeast coast after an unidentified unmanned surface vessel (USV) was detected in the area.

PLAGF Staff Sergeant Second Class Zhao Lichuan, who was involved in the operation, said in the documentary that the USV's rapid manoeuvres prevented the UCAV's onboard computer from reliably locking on the target.

With three minutes remaining before the strike, Zhao said he switched to manual control. He added that he had one minute to position the KVD002 for the attack while maintaining stable altitude and flight parameters to achieve a manual target lock.

Zhao said the UCAV is equipped with a camera capable of 20x zoom.

The footage showed a missile striking the USV from above. The extent of the damage could not be determined.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) unveiled the KVD002 at the sixth China Helicopter Exposition in Tianjin in September 2023.