Airshow China 2022: Tsingaero Armament showcases strike-capable JZ-500 UAV

Tsingaero Armament strike-capable JZ-500 UAV. (Janes)

Chinese firm Tsingaero Armament showcased its JZ-500, a strike-capable rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), at the Airshow China 2022 exhibition in Zhuhai, which concluded on 13 November.

According to Tsingaero Armament, the JZ-500 can be operated in harsh weather, including rain and snow and wind conditions of up to 24 m/s. It is able to operate in temperatures between -55°C and +50°C.

Design features of the UAV include its pod fuselage, which houses the powerplant, avionics, and payload; a pair of intermeshing rotors; a tail rotor on the starboard side; a dorsal and a ventral vertical fin; and horizontal tails on the port and starboard side of the tailboom ahead of the vertical fin.

The fuselage of the JZ-500 includes skid tracks to assist a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability, a ventral electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) turret at the nose, and two snub wings with two hardpoints to accommodate up to four missiles on each wing.

The ventral part of the JZ-500 fuselage, as shown at Airshow China 2022, is likely attached with a twin-barrelled cannon of 7.62 mm calibre. It may be noted that the UAV can be equipped with a pair of military-grade batteries for enhanced endurance. Optionally, it may also be fitted with a pair of 50 litre water tanks with 51 intermittent atomising injectors and 6.8 litres carbon-fibre high-pressure gas cylinders at 30 MPa. The atomisers are used as firefighting devices during missions like suppression of wild fires or in urban roles.

The JZ-500 at the airshow was fitted with missiles that resembled two Tian Lei‐2 (TL‐2) anti-ship missiles.