China’s latest stealth endurance drone, CH-7, completes maiden flight

China’s latest long-endurance stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the CH-7, has completed its maiden flight, further expanding Beijing’s rapidly growing arsenal of autonomous weapons.

State broadcaster CCTV said on Monday that China’s new high-altitude, high-speed, long-endurance CH-7 had recently completed its first flight.

The drone offered long endurance, stealth and high cruising speed, meeting the needs of ground observation, data support and communication under complex conditions, the report said.

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CCTV said it would undergo further tests, including flight performance envelope verification and payload function validation.

The CH series of UAVs developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), is one of China’s bestselling UAVs on the international market.

It was first introduced to the public in 2018, when a full-scale model was displayed at the Zhuhai air show amid speculation it was a long-range reconnaissance and strike UAV. An actual CH-7 was displayed during last year’s Zhuhai air show.

The CH-7’s design has undergone continuous modifications, and the latest official report stated that the aircraft would only be used for reconnaissance.

“The current version of the CH-7 is a high-speed reconnaissance aircraft,” Fang Shuai, one of the drone’s designers, told CCTV in May.

South China Morning Post