China’s military is rapidly developing unmanned aircraft and recently disclosed one of its newest systems: a supersonic reconnaissance drone designed to defeat air and missile defenses.

The DR-8 drone, covered in a camouflage tarp on a flatbed truck, was seen for the first time in photographs published on Chinese social media. The drone was included in a rehearsal in Beijing for a major military parade set for Oct. 1, the anniversary of the founding of China’s Communist Party regime.  Satellite photographs of the rehearsal also showed two other drones with the DR-8, including the new Sharp Sword stealth attack drone, which is capable of firing air-to-ground missiles.

View Comments (1)

DOWNLOAD our Special Report Prayer Guide: Red Flag on China

Military analysts say the DR-8, which already may be deployed with People’s Liberation Army forces, is a key element needed for targeting and guiding China’s large missile force, especially its DF-21 anti-ship ballistic missile. The drone would function as a critical sensor platform to identify the locations of U.S. aircraft carriers and then provide signals used by precision guided missiles.

China has been developing such arms as part of what the Pentagon calls “anti-access/area denial” weapons. China has raised regional tensions by attempting to take control of both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Any conflict with China would likely involve the dispatch of multiple aircraft carrier strike groups to those regions, and China is working on perfecting missile systems that will be able to attack ships far from its shores.

The DR-8 bears a close resemblance to the U.S. D-21 supersonic drone fielded in 1969 and retired in 1971, highlighting China’s ability to obtain U.S. military know-how and apply it to the large-scale buildup of military forces that has been underway for the past three decades. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that the DR-8 can travel at speeds of up to 2,500 miles per hour — enough to outrun air defense missiles. Social media posts and reports from Asia on the Beijing military parade rehearsal also disclosed images of the DF-17 missile, a hypersonic missile that can travel more than 7,000 miles per hour and deliver either a nuclear or conventional warhead through enemy air defenses.

The Pentagon is scrambling to catch up to hypersonic missile development by China and Russia by building its own hypersonic weapons and missile defenses. Current U.S. missile defenses are unable to counter such weapons.

Beijing also is expected to show off its newest heavy intercontinental ballistic missile, the DF-41, which can carry multiple warheads.

China’s multi-warhead capability was gained in part through cooperation with the U.S. space program in the late 1990s. American space companies at the time supplied China with a multiple-satellite launcher that included the “exploding-bolt” technology, which is now part of Beijing’s multiple-warhead missiles.

Rick Fisher, a China affairs military expert, said the new drone is believed to already be in service.

(Excerpt from The Washington Times. Article by Bill Gertz.)