Rainbow CH-901 / BG-201 Suicide Drone

Also known as a loitering munition, this kind of drone functions like a normal drone in reconnaissance missions, but can turn itself into a cruise missile and launch suicide attacks when it receives the order. Chinese arms companies have already developed many types of suicide drones, including the CH-901 and WS-43. The CH-901 is 1.2 meters long, weighs nine kilograms, has a top speed of 150 kilometers an hour, an operation radius of 15 kilometers and an endurance of 120 minutes.

CH-901 is a fixed-wing UAV in conventional layout with cylindrical fuselage and high-wing configuration. Propulsion is provided by a two-blade propeller driven by a pusher engine mounted at the end of empennage. CH-901 is designed as an UCAV? The CH-901 suicide drone is launched from a container and can be ready to use in less than 3 minutes.

The CH-901 suicide drone is intended to combine the advantages of a drone and a bomb and can hover for 40 minutes before swooping down on a target. It can be used by Special Forces during counter-terrorism operations. The CH-901 suicide drone China is a portable killer drone which has a weight of 9 kg and can be easily carried by a single soldier and launch from the field to track down and attack opponents.

The CH-901 suicide drone can be fitted with warheads or camera to perform reconnaissance missions and located enemy positions. The CH-901 can fly at a speed from 7 to 120 km/h with a range of 10 km and, loaded with explosive warhead the drone can penetrate light armored vehicles.

The CH-901 suicide drone can be armed with a fragmentation charge or a shaped charge warhead capable of penetrating 10 cm of armor and destroying tanks and light armored vehicles. The CH-901 suicide drone is able to detect targets at a range of more than 1.5 km from an altitude of 450 m.

Reconnaissance UAV is a small, portable unmanned aircraft that can be used for beyond-visual-range, real-time reconnaissance and precise strikes in small-scale ground forces, changing the current rules of engagement in the world. The main operational modes include capturing territory, anti-terrorism operations, combating low-speed maneuvering targets and reverse-slope defene. The main targets cover enemy personnel,ordinary vehicles, light armors, missile vehicles, aircrafts, and tank trucks.

The UAV outperforms traditional firepower by effectively combating hard-to-reach targets. It can quickly locate, track down and strike hard-to-see targets, such as urban housing roofs, building interiors, alleys,hills, mountains and those in other complex terrain environments. At the same time, it can avoid the danger of user being exposed to enemy,significantly improving the safety and survival rate of soldiers.

The UAV has good flight and precise striking capability, providing operators with real-time images and BDS/GPS coordinates for information gathering, positioning, identifying or killing targets. It is difficult to be detected, identified or tracked even in a rather short distance. It is difficult for enemy to find the drone and evade in time thanks to its low visual and audible signals when hitting targets. All the airfoils can be folded and the drone can be launched through various platforms such as those on ground, in the air and ships.

China has grasped the technology to practically use a drone swarm, a concept featuring the simultaneous and coordinated operation of a large number of drones that could prove to be very difficult to defend against, a Chinese arms firm recently demonstrated in tests. Capable of deployment from the ground, sea and air, this new tool could play a vital role in challenging missions including amphibious landing operations.

The China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology under the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation conducted tests on a fixed-wing drone swarm system, Ordnance Industry Science Technology, a Xi'an-based defense magazine, reported on 17 October 2020. During the tests, drones were released from truck-based, 48-unit launchers and from airborne helicopters. The drones were rapidly and simultaneously deployed while the transport platforms were on the move, and the system can launch as many as 200 drones at once. After release, the drones switched between different formations and conducted reconnaissance and attack missions on ground targets. A drone swarm is a concept in which a large number of drones released at short intervals share information and conduct attacks and defense missions in coordination and outnumber the enemy. Simply deploying a large number of drones but not having them interconnected is technically not a real drone swarm.

The test is done in a simulated combat scenario, and this marks that the drone swarm system has become the first in China that is practical for use, and it will not be long before the drone swarm can enter military service. Dozens or even hundreds of this kind of armed reconnaissance drones in swarms can conduct reconnaissance over large areas and launch coordinated attacks on valuable targets, which could be particularly useful in amphibious landing missions.

The enemy would set up beachhead positions with many mobile and fixed targets, but they will not escape an attack by drone swarms, which can be equipped with different types of warheads, including high explosive and anti-tank rounds against different targets including infantry, bunkers and armored vehicles. Drone swarms can also be released from warships like amphibious landing ships and warplanes like bombers in addition to ground vehicles and helicopters, as the drones could then accurately, automatically and intelligently identify and attack maritime and coastal targets.