China’s WJ-700 armed reconnaissance UAV unveilled
As China’s first high altitude, high speed and long endurance armed reconnaissance UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) system that had made maiden flight, WJ-700 UAV was exhibited at the Zhuhai Airshow in Southern China, with newly equipped high technologies including the country’s first domestic one-ton thrust turbofan engine featuring high performance and high reliability and the use of a large number of carbon fiber composite materials.
According to its developer, No.3 Research Institute under the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), all these upgrades make WJ-700 more flexible and intelligent, which will allow it to realize key capabilities such as one-button self-detection, autonomous inbound and outbound, one-button take-off cruise and autonomous return and landing of the UAV, greatly improving the system’s reliability, reducing the control difficulty of the flight crew and the maintenance intensity of the ground crew.
The upgraded WJ-700 UAV can equip multiple advanced missiles, airborne photoelectric equipment, SAR radar, electric detection radar and other early warning, surveillance and security equipment. Compared with medium long-endurance UAVs, the WJ-700’s reconnaissance efficiency has been exponentially improved over the same period of time.
In addition to carrying multiple types of reconnaissance loads, the WJ-700 UAV can carry glide guided bombs, air-to-ground missiles, anti-radiation missiles, anti-ship missiles and other types of airborne weapons to carry out long-range ground attack, anti-radiation operation and long-range anti-ship operation.
