Zhuhai AirShow or also known as China AirShow 2022, today, November 8, 2022 officially opens. As a routine agenda, the strength and advancement of aerospace technology in the Bamboo Curtain country is shown to strengthen prestige and support propaganda strategies.
Besides for the first time, the Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter will be shown up close in public, Zhuhai AirShow 2022 also showcases a variety of advanced Chinese defense equipment, especially in drone designs.
One of them that was exhibited was the Wing Loong 10 drone, although it was not the first time it was present at the Zhuhai AirShow, there was news that the Wing Loong 10 had now relinquished its title as a prototype. Quoted from eurasiantimes.com (7/11/2022), Wing Loong 10 which has been officially coded as WZ-10 or WL-10 Cloud Shadow has been used by the Chinese military.
From local Chinese media reports, the Chinese military-operated Wing Loong 10 is being played as an electronic warfare – Electronic Warfare (EW)-UAV. The Wing Loong 10 prototype was first shown at the Nanchang AirShow 2020.
As per preliminary information, Wing Loong EW specialists are designed to find electromagnetic signals between 100-300MHz at a distance of 200 kilometers. This drone has a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 3,200 kg, and can fly up to an altitude of 12,500 meters, and has a speed of 520 km per hour. Able to fly as far as 4,000 km with an endurance of 20 hours, then Wing Loong 10 is lined up to enter the HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) drone class.
At first glance, the Wing Loong 10 is not too big, when compared to the RQ-4 Global Hawk or WZ-7 Soar Dragon drones. To carry out electronic warfare missions, the WZ-10 is equipped with an ECM (Electronic Countermeasure) or ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) device, the specifications of which are kept secret.
The ECM serves to disable the enemy's radar and radio communication systems and weapons that use electromagnetic, infrared, or laser systems as guidance or aiming systems. While ELINT refers to the ability to collect intelligence data using electronic sensors.
The Wing Loong-10 is a HALE drone that displays several stealth characteristics. The EW variant is based on a drone developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group. Besides being aimed at military needs, Chengdu Aircraft is also developing Wing Loong 10 to support civilian research needs.
The Wing Loong 10 is powered by a ZF850 jet engine that has a thrust of 1,000 kg. However, there is news that the Wing Loong 10 EW variant uses an AKF-088C turbofan jet engine.
As a combat drone, the Wing Loong 10 is capable of carrying a weapons payload of up to 200 kg. From some of the weapons shown, it appears that the Wing Loong 10 is capable of being armed with BA-7 air-to-ground missiles, YZ-212 laser-guided bombs, YZ-102A antipersonnel bombs, and LS-6 miniature guided bombs weighing 50 kg.
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