The People’s Liberation Army has revealed a combat drone – converted from a retired 1950s J-6 fighter jet – that could be used for a swarm attack in a potential conflict across the Taiwan Strait.
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The drone was unveiled at the Changchun air show in northeast China, which opened on Friday and finishes on Tuesday.
Its appearance has confirmed years of speculation that the PLA was trying to repurpose its legacy fleet of J-6s.
China built thousands of the warplanes – based on the Soviet MiG-19 – from the 1960s to the 1980s.
A second-generation supersonic fighter jet, the J-6 has a maximum speed of Mach 1.3 – far slower than China’s most advanced fighter, the J-20, which can exceed Mach 2.0. The J-6 has a combat range of 700km (435 miles) and can carry up to 250kg (550lbs) of munitions.
According to information accompanying the drone exhibit at the air show, the first unmanned J-6 took flight as early as 1995.
