#ch-5

The first mass-production model of the CH-5 UAV conducted its first test flight from an airfield in China's northern Hebei Province on 14 July. Source: Xinhua

China has announced that it is ready to mass produce the Cai Hong 5 (Rainbow 5, or CH-5) strike-capable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was unveiled at Airshow China in November 2016, according to a 15 July report by the China Daily newspaper.

The announcement was made shortly after the first mass-production model of the CH-5 conducted its first flight from an airfield in China’s northern Hebei Province.

Ou Zhongming, project manager of the CH series at the Beijing-based China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics – the country's largest exporter of military UAVs – was quoted by the state-owned newspaper as saying that several countries, including current users of other CH models and new clients, are in talks with the academy to procure the CH-5.

"Today's [14 July] flight means the CH-5's design has been finalised and we are ready to mass produce it," he was quoted as saying, refusing to name potential buyers.

Shi Wen, chief designer of the CH series, told the paper that the CH-5 outperforms all of its Chinese-made counterparts when it comes to operational endurance and payload capacity. “The UAV is as good as the US-made General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper: a hunter-killer drone often deemed by Western analysts as the best of its kind,” he claimed.

Production variant CH-5 UAV made maiden flight

The production variant of the CASC CH-5 (Cai Hong-5, or Rainbow 5) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made its maiden flight successfully on 14 July from an undisclosed airfield in Hebei Province, marking the final major milestone in its development before the batch production commences. Developed by China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA, a.k.a. 11th Academy) of the China Aerospace Science &…