Chinese CH-5 Rainbow UAV vs US MQ-9 Reaper
CH – CaiHong – Rainbow
The CH-5 is the latest UCAV of the Rainbow series, with a wingspan of 21 metres, a payload of 1,000 kg, a maximum takeoff weight of over 3 tonnes, a service ceiling of 9 km, an endurance of up to 60 hours and a range of 10,000 km.
Thanks to shared data link it can cooperate with CH-3 and CH-4 drones. It conducted its maiden flight in August 2015 and its first airshow flight (in northern Hebei province) in July 2017.
The drone can carry 16 missiles at a single time. There were also plans to extend its range up to 20,00 km.
Chinese officials claimed the CH-5 Rainbow was similar in performance to the US MQ-9 Reaper and “may come in at less than half the price.”
Compared to the Garrett TPE331 turboprop engine mounted on the Reaper, CH-5 is equipped with an unidentified turbo-charged piston engine, with less than half the horsepower. This choice limits the maximum altitude of the CH-5 to 9 km compared to the 12–15 km of the Reaper, but it also extends CH-5’s endurance to 60 hours compared to 14 hour of the Reaper’s.
Future blocks of CH-5 will be able to stay in the air for up to 120 hours.
CH-5 combat drone China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s CH-5 combat drone, nicknamed the “Air Truck Bomb” because it soars into battle with 16 missiles, is the successor to the CH-4, which many call the “AK-47 of drones.” Resembling General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper drone, the developers claim the weapon is superior to its combat-tested American counterpart, which carries four Hellfire missiles and two 500-pound precision bombs. The Reaper is one of America’s top hunter-killer drones and a key weapon that can stalk and strike militants in the war on terror. The CH-5 “can perform whatever operations the MQ-9 Reaper can… Read more »
Top 10 Military Drones In The World 2019
10) Dassault nEUROn
9) General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle
8) Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk
7) BAE Systems Taranis
6) IAI Eitan
5) TAI ANKA
4) Elbit Hermes 900
3) General Atomics Avenger (Predator C)
2) CH-5 Rainbow
1) General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
China unveils its answer to US Reaper drone how does it compare
MQ-9「收割者」(MQ-9 “Reaper”,又译「死神」,原代号称为「掠夺者B」(Predator B)),是一款由通用原子航空系统(英语:General Atomics Aeronautical Systems)(General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, GA-ASI)为美国空军所开发的无人机。