China is rumored to be at work on a supersonic stealth drone maneuverable enough to engage US fighter jets in aerial combat as well as ground strikes, according to a Pentagon study released earlier this year.
The Anjian, or Dark Sword, is a rumored new generation of Chinese drones that could pose a far greater threat to the US military than its current generation of drones, according to a report by the US Defense Department’s Defense Science Board (DSB). While China is known to have developed so-called “carrier-killer” ballistic missiles designed to strike at US aircraft carriers, a highly maneuverable, stealthy and supersonic drone — or a swarm of them — would pose an entirely different kind of defensive challenge.
The Anjian “represents the aspirations of the Chinese to design something even the Western powers don’t have — a supersonic drone capable of air-to-air combat as well as ground strikes,” said the DSB report.
The closest thing to the Dark Sword in US development is the subsonic Northrup Grumman X-47B. One of two X-47B unarmed protoypes began carrier-based evaluation on November 26, 2012 aboard the USS Harry S. Truman at the Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. The X-47B is an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) with a maximum range of about 2,500 miles or about 6 hours of flying time, giving it the capability to conduct missions deep inside China. It is expected to have the capability to refuel itself from an aerial tanker using a probe-and-drogue system. It has two weapons bays capable of carrying up to 4,500 pounds of bombs or missiles.
China showcased its current generation of drones at the Zhuhai Airshow in Guangdong province in November. The CH-4 and the Wing Loong, or Pterodactyl, are seen to be close copies of the US Reaper and Predator drones that have been widely used in Afghanistan for surveillance and ground strikes. The larger Xianglong, or Soaring Dragon, is seen as being modeled after the RQ-4 Global Hawk used for long-range, high-altitude missions.
A photo taken by a Japanese military plane recently shows a drone circling Chinese naval vessels on a training exercise near Okinawa, suggesting the PLA Navy has begun deploying drones from aboard its ships. Some of these drones are thought to be designed to hunt the ten or so US submarines currently deployed in the western Pacific. These submarines, which are able to keep their locations hidden from the Chinese military, give the US the capability to launch nuclear strikes deep inside China. Developing a fleet of drones with the capability of detecting and tracking these submarines would allow China to cripple one of the three legs of the US nuclear arsenal.
“In a worrisome trend, China has ramped up research in recent years faster than any other country,” said the DSB report. “It displayed its first unmanned system model at the Zhuhai air show five years ago, and now every major manufacturer for the Chinese military has a research center devoted to unmanned systems.”
“The military significance of China’s move into unmanned systems is alarming,” said the report, adding that China could “easily match or outpace U.S. spending on unmanned systems, rapidly close the technology gaps and become a formidable global competitor in unmanned systems.”
“The scope and speed of unmanned-aircraft development in China is a wake-up call that has both industrial and military implications,” said the report. “U.S. exports of unmanned systems are highly constrained. China, with no such constraints, has made U.A.V.s a new focus of military exports.”
US military planners and the Defense Intelligence Agency should “aggressively” incorporate drones and drone warfare into their war games, simulations and exercises, the DSB report recommended.
