Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
China has an active program to purchase or develop unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for its armed forces. Several Western suppliers are actively interested in pursuing the market for UAVs in China. Indigenous Chinese UAVs also will be developed and could be improved with foreign assistance. China’s research and development centers, especially Xian’s Northwest Polytechnic University (NPU), and the Beijing and Nanjing Universities of Aeronautics and Astronautics, have active UAV developmental programs, intended to support the PLA’s tactical C4I structure.
Although China’s military probably prefers to purchase a proven system, China’s leadership may have determined that indigenous production of UAVs is in China’s best interest. While China’s military has a great interest in using UAVs in tactical C4I, it has only limited capability and experience with UAVs to date. Consequently, the practical application of UAV sensor information to battlefield operations is only in the developmental stage. The application of UAVs in tactical C4I operations is likely to increase as new UAVs become operational
within the Chinese military.
Sources and Resources
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/china/sys/uav.htm
Created by John Pike
Maintained by Webmaster
Updated Thursday, July 02, 1998 6:34:53 PM
