30 October 2019

China's civil-military integration gathers pace

by Andrew Tate

China’s push towards greater civil-military integration in science and technology appears to be gaining momentum as reflected in the 20-22 September Military and Civilian Equipment Technology Achievement Exhibition held in the Chinese city of Xian: the hub for much of the country’s aerospace industry.

A 27 October report published in the state-owned Global Times newspaper focused exclusively on a stealthy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) displayed at the exhibition that is expected to operate as a “long-range, multi-purpose, high speed transport” platform.

A model of the FL-2 UAV shown at the Military and Civilian Equipment Technology Achievement Exhibition held in September in Xian. (Via CCTV )

Known as the Feilong-2 (FL-2) or Flying Dragon, the UAV, which was exhibited in model form, is being developed by the Xian-based Zhong Tian Guide Control Technology Company Ltd. The FL-2 is described by the company as a hybrid configuration, formed from a flying wing but with two canted vertical tailplanes.

The UAV is designed to be powered by two turbofan engines and have a maximum take-off weight of 22 tons, including a 6 ton payload, a cruising speed of about 750 km/h, an endurance of 10 hours, and a maximum range of 7,000 km, according to the manufacturer.

The Zhong Tian company is not one of China’s mainstream UAV manufacturers, but at the November 2018 Airshow China in Zhuhai it exhibited a model of the Feilong 1 (FL-1) medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV, which is similar in size and configuration to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Cai Hong 5 (Rainbow 5, or CH-5) UAV. The FL-1 subsequently made its first flight in January 2019.

Also shown on the company’s website is a design for a supersonic high-altitude, high-speed UAV, which carries the designation FL-71.

China’s push towards greater civil-military integration in science and technology appears to be gain...

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