Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

China Demonstrates 25+ Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Posted by timothy on from the we-can-seeeeee-you dept.

overThruster writes "The Wall Street Journal and Defense News report that China had more than 25 different unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on display at the Zhuhai Airshow. In addition to a jet powered UAV that is potentially faster than US made drones such as the Predator and Reaper, the Chinese have developed an unmanned 'thopter' for surveillance. 'ASN showed off 10 different UAVs, including the new ASN-211 Flapping Wing Aircraft System, which simulates a bird in flight. The prototype on display has a take-off weight of only 220 grams with a maximum speed of six-to-10 meters a second and an altitude ranging from 20-200 meters. A spokesperson said the micro-UAV would mainly be used for low-altitude reconnaissance for troops in the field.'"

15 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Chinese take-out by PatPending · · Score: 4, Funny

    Gives new meaning to the phrase, "Chinese take-out"

    --
    What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
  2. Ornithopter, FTW. by VortexCortex · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sure ornithopters are great, but what I really want is a personal submarine that looks like a shark, or perhaps a subway train that drills its own tunnels, like a worm.

    1. Re:Ornithopter, FTW. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Price for a custom built Seabreacher is dependent on the number of options that a customer chooses, but price tends to range from US$ 65,000 for a standard model to upwards of US$ 85,000 for a high-performance, heavily customized version.

      This is about the same price that a BMW M5 will put you back. If you've got the money, I guess your buying choice will depend on whether you live near water, or the Nürburgring.

      DISCLAIMER: I rode a couple of laps around the Nürburgring in an M5 driven a professional race driver chick. It was a hoot and a half, to see how she passed guys with too much money, driving Porsches. They didn't want to believe that they were being overtaken by a chick in a white BMW.

      God damn that car was fast, but I think that driver, and her knowledge of the track really made the difference!

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:Ornithopter, FTW. by PatPending · · Score: 3, Informative
      The female driver was likely Sabine Schmitz (formerly Sabine Reck). It's known as the Nurburgring Taxi

      According to her own estimates, Sabine has gone around the track more than 20,000 times, increasing by approximately 1,200 per year. Her familiarity with the circuit earned her the nicknames "Queen of the Nürburgring" and "the fastest taxi driver in the world".

      --
      What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
  3. Re:How much is stolen? by lp_bugman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not technically stolen. We started by sending our manufacturing plants to China, higher Technical jobs, followed by Research jobs... Now China has l everything it needs to build new technology: Manufacturing + qualified labour + brains... Just yesterday i was thinking: Can US build a LCD with 100% us manufactured components... I'm thinking the answer is No.

    --
    BSD licensed software can't be stolen....
  4. Only a matter of time by assemblerex · · Score: 5, Funny

    before china and the west come into conflict of interest. That is why we need to move industry out of there to vietnam or another friendly country.

  5. Re:Well, maybe in the next World War ... by bkmoore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One unintended consequence of the CIA's armed UAV air strikes is the US has basically said it is legal to target persons in third countries with UAVs. Sooner or later the Chinese will do the same. The US will protest, and China will remind them that they are only doing what the CIA has been doing for years.

  6. Re:How much is stolen? by QuantumG · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Ya kidding right? Do you think there's a factory in Wyoming that makes UAVs or something?

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  7. I wonder how many are original development. by blind+biker · · Score: 2, Insightful

    My guess is: none. The notorious mode operandi of chinese military industry is to buy one or two pieces of a particular equipment (for instance, the finnish Patria AMV), pull it apart to the last bolt and nut, and copy the design. Chinese are supreme artists in this, and thanks to their powerful and flexible industrial base, they can start up production faster than anyone on Earth (at this point.

    Various countries have sold them military drones. My guess is that none of those displayed is fruit of chinese R&D.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    1. Re:I wonder how many are original development. by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Informative

      The notorious mode operandi of chinese military industry

      That's mode of operation or modus operandi. HTH, HAND.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  8. Re:No source? by TheLink · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5056235&c=AIR&s=TOP

    http://sidelobe.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/zhuhai-unusual-models-on-display/

    --
  9. This scares me a little bit by AlfaMike · · Score: 2, Insightful

    An almost tyrant government with great military power. This never ended well for humanity whenever it happened in history.

  10. Re:The short sightedness of governments by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A tiny UAV can't carry any meaningful cargo

          A comment which shows a surprising lack of imagination. How much does $5 million worth of diamonds weigh? Or how about large numbers of flights carrying small amounts of say, cocaine or heroin?

    We have numerous technologies for shooting down missiles

          Yes but this is a model aircraft traveling at 35mph and 100ft in the air, with virtually no heat signature (especially the electric ones powered by lithium batteries) and very little radar signature. How will your 5 million dollar missile distinguish between this and ground clutter?

          As for infrastructure - right. You won't bust bunkers with this, but I wonder what a couple of them filled with incendiary material could do to a petrochemical tank farm or an oil refinery...

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  11. Re:How much is stolen? by sirrunsalot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As far as I know we haven't outsourced our UAV development, so back to the topic of the article about UAV's and lets try to compare what they have copied.

    Of course you mean we haven't legally outsourced our UAV development to China.

  12. Re:Well, maybe in the next World War ... by timeOday · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Hawks don't think that way though; the basic premise is the enemy is so intrinsically evil that your only option is to be evil first, beating him to the punch. Thus (by definition) a provocation or bad precedent by the good guys is just a head start on what would have happened anyways, since (unfortunately) the bad guys are so evil.