Norinco UAV

ZBKJ-01 medium altitude UAV is a fixed wing UAV developed by Xi'an Zhongbing Space Technology Co., Ltd, (西安中兵空间技术有限公司) a wholly owned subsidiary of Norinco. Medium Altitude UAV is revealed for the first to the public in 2013 International General Aviation Exhibition held in Xi'an.[1] Medium altitude UAV is in twin boom layout with tricycle landing gear. Propulsion is provided by a two-blade propeller driven tractor engine mounted in the nose tip of the fusalge. Specification:[2][3]

• Cruise speed (km/hr): 160
• Altitude (km): 6
• Payload (kg): 80
• Endurance (hr): 8
• Launch: taxiing or catapult
• Recovery: taxiing or parachute
• Control radius (km): 220 without relay, 400 with relay
• Construction: composite material

Micro unmanned helicopter (Wei-Xiao Xing Wu-Ren Zhi-Sheng-Ji, 微小型无人直升机) is a micro air vehicle (MAV) developed by Norinco, and the flight control system based on CAN bus is completely indigenously developed in China, by the Intelligent Control System Research and Development of the Information Group (Xin-Xi Ji-Tuan Zhi-Neng Kong-Zhi Xi-Tong Yan-Fa Bu, 信息集团智能控制系统研发部) of Norinco. The MAV is capable of complete autonomous flight.[4]

MRHS UAV is an UAV currently under joint development by an unnamed foreign UAV developer and North Navigation Control Technology Co., Ltd. MRHS UAV is the abbreviation of Medium-Range High-Speed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Zhong-Cheng Gao-Su Wu-Ren-Ji, 中程高速无人机). Based on the drawing released by Norinco, MRHS UAV is jet-powered and in conventional layout. MRHS utilizes rocket assisted take-off and is recovered via parachute. In addition to reconnaissance missions, MRHS UAV project also includes a suicide version used for attack. Two models of the suicide attack version have been proposed, with the lighter version targeting armored vehicles and helicopters, and the heavier version targeting bridges, buildings, and radars/communication centers.[5]

Norinco Harpy is the Chinese development of IAI Harpy, which was purchased by China in 1994. A decade later when Harpy UAVs were returned to Israel for upgrade under contract, Israel had to nullify the contract under intense US pressure. As a result, China developed its own upgrade of Harpy after they were returned by Israel to China without the planned upgrade. This Chinese development of Harpy was publicized in April 2011 by China Central Television. The most obvious external visual distinction between Norinco Harpy and its Israeli predecessor is that the Chinese version has two different types of warheads, suggesting each covers different homing frequencies. In addition, the launcher of Chinese version has only six cells instead of the original eighteen cells of Israeli version. The complete Chinese name for this Chinese development of Harpy is Cruising Suicide Unmanned Attack Aircraft (Xun-Hui-Shi Zi-Sha Wu-Ren Gong-Ji-Ji, 巡回式自杀无人攻击机).[6]

Norinco quadcopter is a quadrotor that has been successfully exported to Egypt, and it is designed to be operated by a single soldier, hence its complete Chinese name is Single Solder Quadrotor Unmanned Aircraft (Dan-Bing Si-Xuan-Yi Wu-Ren-Ji, 单兵四旋翼无人机). The landing gear consists of a pair of skids. Specification:

• Max take-off weight (kg): 2
• Remote control range (km): 5
• Endurance (min): 30
• Max range (km): 20
• Speed (km/hr): 40
• Navigation: GPS

Sharp Eye III is an unmanned helicopter developed by Norinco for reconnaissance or strike missions. The helicopter is in conventional helicopter layout with a pair of skids as landing gear. In addition to reconnaissance missions, Sharp Eye III can also perform strike missions when armed, and one of these weapon is BRM1 90 mm guided rocket. The ground station is mobile, mounted on a 4 x 4 truck. Specification:[7]

• Ceiling (km): 3.5
• Take-off weight (kg): 450
• Payload (kg): 50 – 100
• Operator needed: 1
• Speed (km/hr): 180
• Endurance (hr): 4 – 6
• Height (m): 1.2
• Length (m): 4

List of unmanned aerial vehicles of the People's Republic of China