Reprinted from Global Security, the drones were delivered this weekend to Serbia and are in operation elsewhere, likely south of the US border. – NCS

Pterodactyl II / Wing-Loong II – Lethal UAS

The Wing Loong II UAV is among several Chinese MALE UAV designs available on the market, with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) CH-4B being its main competitor. With its Wing Loong II, China would like to offer the new-generation reconnaissance/strike unmanned aerial vehicle on the international market. In March 2017, it was announced that China could deliver 300 Wing Loong II to Saudi Arabia. The Wing Loong II uav is an improved version of the Wing Loong 1 UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in the category of MALE (Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance) designed and manufactured in China by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). the Wing Loong II has an optimized aerodynamic design, an improved airframe and upgraded airborne systems, featuring better capabilities in terms of flight, payload and information capacity.

The Wing-Loong II is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, multi-role UAS integrated with both reconnaissance and strike capabilities. It is composed of the Wing-Loong II unmanned aircraft, GCS, mission payload and a ground support system. The upgraded-version Wing Loong II UAS is 11 meters long, 4.1 meters high, with a wing span of 20.5 meters. It has a maximum take-off weight of 4.2 tonnes, with an external carriage weight of 480kg, Its maximum flight altitude reaches 9,000 meters and maximum flight speed is 340-370 km per hour, with a loiter time of 20 hours and maximum payload of 480kg. It is enhanced comprehensively in terms of platform performance and strike & reconnaissance capabilities. Its larger and better platform makes stronger propulsion and higher performance possible. It also has the increased payload capacity and carrying capability. With a much larger size, the Wing Loong II is capable of carrying up to 12 laser-guided bombs or missiles, up to have a total weight of 480 kg. By contrast, Wing Loong I can carry only two bombs or missiles together weighing 100 kg.

Xinhua reported that the Wing Loong II achieved the “largest order of Chinese advanced large-scale UAVs in the overseas market” prior to its maiden test flight. Neither AVIC or CADI revealed the customer. China’s domestic developed Wing-Loong II, the new reconnaissance and strike multi-role endurance Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), successfully completed its maiden flight 27 February 2017. With a more than 20 meter wingspan, the yellow Wing-Loong II No.01 made its appearance on the runway of a highland airfield in western China, before conducting a 31-minute flight.

“Its flight marks China’s new generation reconnaissance and strike UAS. Following the United States, China becomes another country capable of developing such new generation large reconnaissance and strike UAS,” said Li Yidong, chief designer of the Wing-Loong UAS series.

The AVIC unveiled the concept of Wing Loong II at the Aviation Expo China in Beijing in September 2015, while a prototype was displayed to the public at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, in November 2015.

Li said it showed that China had the capability to deliver new generation reconnaissance and strike UAS products to foreign military customers. In fact, the Wing-Loong II has already won the biggest overseas purchase order in the history of Chinese UAS foreign military sales, even before its maiden flight.

Li said that the Wing-Loong II could perform reconnaissance, surveillance and ground strike missions. “It can rapidly identify then strike against time-critical and fleeting targets. The capability is not possessed by previous unmanned aircraft, even manned aircraft,” Li said. “Taking a look at the UAS in same class around the world, the Wing-Loong II is equivalent to the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper, and ranks in the first level on the UAS list.” In fact, the payload is about a quarter of the MQ-9, and the ceiling decidedly lower

With a system extension, it can also perform intelligence collection, electronic warfare, search and rescue missions, and has several uses, including military, anti-terrorism, peace keeping, border patrol operations and civilian use.

“The advanced drone will help China obtain a bigger share in the international market because it will be one of the most capable military drones in the market,” said Wang Ya’nan, deputy editor-in-chief at Aerospace Knowledge magazine. “The Wing Loong II is equipped with a satellite data link system, so it can operate in an environment with bad ground signals, which means it can be of great use to nations that have vast mountainous areas or plateaus,” he said. “In addition, the drone will be very attractive to countries that now deploy the Wing Loong I, as they have realized the good capabilities and reliability of Chinese-made drones.” Possible customers for the Wing-Loong II are rumored to include Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt.

On 91 September 2019, on the last day of the Moscow Air Show, an unusual scene appeared in the exhibition area of ??China Aviation Industry. A Pterosaur II drone displayed in the open made an appearance and the landing gear broke in public. The rear half of the aircraft lies directly on the ground. All of a sudden, there were remarks about the poor quality of drones and deliberate sabotage by agents. However, the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute, the manufacturer of the Pterosaur II drone, was unexpectedly calm, and the factory representatives were even excited.

In fact, the Pterosaur II displayed in the open-air booth for public display is just a simulation model, but the appearance is fake. After all, a Pterosaur II drone is worth millions of dollars, and it is also equipped with an expensive photoelectric search device. At the Moscow Air Show, the public can have zero-distance contact with the aircraft, and even climb directly on the Pterosaur II drone to visit. The Long II simulation model has limited bearing capacity and cannot withstand the weight of many people staying on it for a long time, which eventually caused the main landing gear to break. Judging from the broken part of the landing gear, there is a hollow yellow wooden plank inside, which is obviously a simulation model.

The design of the Wing Loong II UAV MALE is based to the Wing Loong I but it is longer with a much larger wingspan. The Wing Loong II has a length of 11 meters, a wingspan of 20.5 meters and a height of 4.1 m. It has monoplane slender fuselage and empennage with a prominent V-tail and ventral fin. The landing gear consists of two main wheels under the fuselage and one single wheel under the nose, facilitates safe take-off and landing. Each wing incorporates three underwing hardpoints able to carry bombs, rockets or air-to-surface missiles. A satellite communications antenna is mounted on the bulge at the top front surface of the fuselage, offering data transmission between the UAV and the ground control station.

The Chinese Pterosaur 2 UAV has strong technical support. For example, in terms of ammunition capacity, the aircraft has 6 external attachment points and can carry about 480 kg of weapons and ammunition, including various precision missiles. The Wing Loong II UAV MALE is powered by a turbocharged engine, driving a three-bladed propeller, mounted at the rear section. It can fly during 20 hours and has a maximum speed of 370 km per hour. The Wing Loong II has an operational radius of 1,500 km and that it is equipped with a satellite communications system.

The Wing Loong II UAV MALE is able of carrying up to 12 laser-guided bombs or missiles with a total weight of 480 kilogram’s. The Wing Loong 1 can carry only two bombs or missiles with a combined weight of 100 kg. At Zhuhai Air Show 2016, the Wing Loong II was showed with different types of bombs and missiles as the FT-9/50 50kg bomb, GB3 250 kg laser-guided bomb, TL-10 bomb and more. The electro-optical payload pod, fitted under the forward section of the fuselage, is integrated with day light and infrared cameras and sensors to collect surveillance and targeting data in both day and low-light / night conditions.

The Wing Loong II UAV MALE is developed primarily for the export market and is intended for surveillance and aerial reconnaissance missions. It can be fitted with a variety of weapons to perform combat and strike missions. The Wing Loong UAV is remotely controlled by one operator from the mobile ground control station using the consoles. The control station receives payload information from the UAV via a data communications link and sends back command and control, as well as mission planning data to the air vehicle.

Chengdu-based AVIC UAS, a drone branch of the State-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), delivered the 50th Wing Loong II drone, the company said in a statement at the end of December 2020. It did not give further details about the delivery, or the identity of the client. Compared with the Wing Loong I, the first entry in the Wing Loong drone series, the Wing Loong II is aimed at high-end users in the international market as it is equipped with more advanced technologies.

Libya’s airspace has been transformed into a large “air combat test base”, and weapons and equipment of all countries are being tested here. As the situation in Libya took a turn for the worse, the Libyan government continued to engage in civil war with the opposition. Among them, the “Libyan National Army” has received support from Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other countries. In addition to the assistance of conventional weapons, some black technology weapons have also appeared one after another, such as the Chinese “Pterosaur 2” UAV that appeared on the battlefield in Libya. Its excellent performance has won the favor of many countries. It is understood that the Chinese “Pterosaur 2” UAV that appeared on the battlefield in Libya was exported from China to the UAE, and the UAE provided it to the Libyan National Army.

In the first half of 2020, about 17 Turkish-produced “TB2” drones were destroyed in the Libyan civil war, while the loss of Chinese drones was less than half of Turkey’s, about 8 or so. In other words, Chinese UAVs and Turkish UAVs have obvious advantages in actual combat in Libya. The reason why the Chinese Pterosaur 2 UAV can have a huge advantage on the Libyan battlefield is that it has a powerful UAV information processing technology. If it is only manually controlled by humans, simple remote control is difficult to make the UAV excellent. Combat missions require the use of a high-level airborne neural network processor to process real-time information. Pterodactyl 2 can solve this problem well. It can perform target tasks more accurately according to the pre-set path. It can share real-time data with ground combat troops and cooperate with ground troops to complete combat operations. Compared with the “TB2” UAV, it is about 8 times the amount of airborne ammunition. For this reason, many people in the industry refer to it as a “small bomber,” which can withstand the high temperature of the desert, the rugged mountainous terrain, and the marine environment and other complex areas, so as to better fight.