China should draw a lesson from downing of US drone, expert says
- ‘Flying wing’ design could make aircraft more stealthy and improve manoeuvrability, according to aeronautics expert
- An American spy drone is said to have collided with a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea in March
China’s next-generation drones could adopt a “flying wing design” to make them stealthier, a Chinese aeronautics expert said after a US drone collided with a Russian fighter and crashed into the Black Sea.
Wang Zhengping, a professor with the aeronautics department at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, told Chinese military magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology last month that the flying wing would help reduce the risk of collisions by increasing its speed and manoeuvrability significantly.
This design also makes it easier to add stealth capacity, which may also help avoid accidents.
The fixed wing design, which is seen as more efficient than conventional layouts, had no definite fuselage and no tail – instead the wings and fuselage are combined together in one structure.
02:18
Pentagon releases footage showing Russian fighter jet intercepting US drone
“From the perspective of aerodynamics, a flying wing layout could give the aircraft the highest flight efficiency, which would then bring a high level of manoeuvrability,” Wang told the magazine.
China’s FL-2 stealth transport drone – developed by Zhongtian Yinkong Technology and unveiled in 2019 – has a flying wing design. The Chinese military’s next-generation bomber, the H-20, is also expected to have that layout.
“It’s easier to incorporate stealth capabilities for aircraft with a flying wing design but these aircraft are more difficult for pilots to operate because there is no tail,” he said.
In the magazine interview, Wang also said the March drone crash could have been a deliberate move by the US to avoid sensitive information from the drone being obtained by Russia.
The incident happened when the US sent its MQ-9 spy drone to monitor the Black Sea – near Russian-occupied Crimea.
General James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in a statement at the time that the “MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9”.
China is working on a new combat drone to pair with its J-20 stealth fighter
But Wang said video footage of the incident released by the US Air Force suggested the Russian warplane had dumped fuel on the drone “to disrupt its flight path or damage the aircraft”.
“A drone’s engine can fail if it gets covered in fuel … and once the engine fails the drone will automatically return to its base or land somewhere nearby,” he said.
“From the video we can see that the drone’s two-blade propeller was damaged,” he said. “After the incident, the MQ-9 can be observed maintaining a stable flying position, its engine was still running. So it can be inferred that the downing of the drone into the Black Sea was probably a deliberate order from the US.”
If that was the case, it would have been a bid to protect confidential information, he said. “The damaged MQ-9 might have lost its ability to return to base … and it would be troublesome for the US if Russia got the damaged drone.”
