China continues to improve its capabilities of unmanned systems, now with A new aerial carrier that will be the largest in the world. As reported by the CCTV state broadcaster on Monday, The Popular Liberation Army (EPL) will carry out the inaugural mission of the Jiu Tian (‘High Heaven’) before the end of June.
The Jiu Tian is a non -manned aerial vehicle (UAV) of great altitude and long duration (HAL), conceived as a Force multiplier for EPL capabilities at drones and swarm operations. It was first presented at the Zhuhai Aeronautical Hall Last November and, according to South China Morning Post, it represents a strategic leap for the EPL. The inaugural flight will mark the beginning of a series of operational tests before its complete incorporation into the China Army.
This is the Jiu Tian, the world’s largest aerial carrier
The gate has a maximum range of 7,242 kilometers and an operational roof of 15,000 meterswhich places it above the reach of most medium -range air defense systems. It is designed for Missions that require great autonomy in disputed air spacesit has a wingspan 25 meters And you can lift the flight with a maximum weight of 17.5 tons.
The Jiu Tian has an internal bay system that capable of transporting up to 100 melodeing ammunition or small dronespotentially kamikaze. These are deployed symmetrically from two of them located at the bottom of the aircraft, which allows Distributed or saturation attacks against enemy defenses.
The main function of Jiu Tian is to facilitate swarm tactics as The coordinated deployment of network drones to saturate, deceive or neutralize adversary air defense systems.
It also has eight external anchor points for useful loads that allow to configure the UAV for missions of electronic war, intelligence, surveillance, recognition (ISR) and electronic suppression.
UAV’s conceptual and aerodynamic design is the work of the China Aviation Industry Corporationone of the main aerospace conglomerates of the country. Has been developed by Shaanxi Unmanned Equipment Technologydefense company registered in 2023, and manufactures it Xi’an Chida Aircraft Parts Manufacturingsubsidiary of the Guangzhou state group Haige Communications.
According to Xi’an Chida Aircraft Parts Manufacturing, the Jiu Tian can adapt to different types of mission, both military and paramilitar -by the Chinese police, for example -, thanks to its modular configuration. In addition to its combat applications, the UAV is designed to Maritime Patrols, Border Safety, Resource Monitoring, Help against Disaster and Emergency Operations.
The best ISR drones in the United States against Jiu Tian
The platform is considered part of China’s response to unmanned Systems ISR of the United States, in this case endowed with greater versatility.
While the RQ-4 Global Hawk It exceeds the Jiu Tian at altitude, up to 18,000 meters, and recognition capabilities, lacks attack capacity. He MQ-9 ReaperOn the other hand, it offers flexibility in attack and ISR, but is limited by its lower operational altitude and a maximum take -off weight of 5 tons, well below the ability of the Jiu Tian.
In addition, China’s UAV fleet already includes other advanced platforms such as CH-7with furtive capacity, and the Wing Loong-Xspecialized in anti -submarine war.