• Air Warfare

  PLA shows off new UCAV, while CH-5 achieves sale to Iraq

  27th September 2023

  China's aerospace industry continues to develop and sell advanced UAVs both at home and on the international market and has displayed UCAVs at the China Helicopter Exhibition in Tianjin.

• Air Warfare

  China’s J-20 fighter hits milestone with suspected first flight with WS15 engines

  7th July 2023

  The consensus amongst the open-source community is that China has test-flown a J-20 powered fully by WS15 engines for the first time.

• Defence Helicopter

  Development of Z-20 variants in full swing for PLA

  13th January 2021

  The PLA is exploring new missions for the Z-20 medium helicopter, as the aircraft looks set to become the backbone of rotary-winged fleets in China.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Salvaged sea glider shows wide extent of Chinese surveillance

  8th January 2021

  Chinese sea gliders are roving far and wide across regional seas, as the latest discovery in Indonesia indicates.

• Defence Notes

  NATO AN-124 transports medical supplies to Eastern Europe

  26th March 2020

  A NATO-operated Antonov An-124 transport aircraft has transported 48t of medical supplies to Bratislava Airport from Tianjin, China. The medical supplies are being sent to …

• Defence Helicopter

  Power up: PLA fields upgraded Z-10 attack helicopters

  19th February 2020

  A picture that appeared on the Chinese Internet on 8 February has revealed that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has introduced an upgraded variant of …

• Defence Helicopter

  China’s Z-20 gets its first public airings

  23rd October 2019

  The Z-20 helicopter manufactured by the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group – but clearly copied from the Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk – has enjoyed a flurry …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sino-Russian AHL grows in stature

  15th September 2017

  China and Russia are edging closer to a contract for the cooperative Advanced Heavy Lift (AHL) helicopter, with the proposed design more prominently presented at …

• Defence Helicopter

  Z-19 sprouts radar and set to achieve exports

  15th September 2017

  For the first time the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) publicly exhibited an example of its Z-19 attack helicopter fitted with a mast-mounted millimeter wave radar, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Armed AV500W flies as new designs surprise

  18th September 2017

  Last month the AV500W rotary-winged UAV from the AVIC Helicopter Research and Development Institute in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province performed its maiden flight and conducted a …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Zhuhai 2016: Quadrant covers all sectors

  2nd November 2016

  There was absolutely no shortage of businesses hawking a bewildering array of UAVs at the 11th Zhuhai Air Show in China. Quadrant Space (Tianjin) Technology, …

• Defence Notes

  Analysis: Cutting the PLA to the corps

  8th September 2016

  The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the armed forces of China’s communist party, is undergoing a series of radical reformations. The slashing of 300,000 personnel by …

• Defence Helicopter

  China goes old-tech with gyrocopters

  12th January 2016

  The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has begun operating and flying camouflage-painted gyrocopters, pictures to recently emerge on Chinese internet websites have revealed. The gyrocopters, christened …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sino-Russian AHL details emerge

  11th September 2015

  More solid details have emerged regarding Aviation Corporation of China’s (AVIC) 10t-class Advanced Heavy Lift (AHL) helicopter thanks to the display of a scale model …

• Defence Helicopter

  Armed Z-19E prepped for export

  10th September 2015

  A light armed attack helicopter from the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG) broke cover at the China Helicopter Exposition, held from 9-13 September, in Tianjin. …

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Awing-F100J

  Awing-F100J is the latest UAV from Tianjin-based Quadrant Space (Tianjin) Technology and was displayed at the 11th Zhuhai Airshow in China for the first time ...

• 5A-01

  The Tianjin Aurora UAV 5A-01 rotary-wing UAV is capable of carrying a heavy payload (38kg) and has a reported high cruising speed (65kt). 

• 7A-05

  The Tianjin Aurora 7A-05 rotary-wing UAV is a commercial platform with four arms and an upper and lower dual rotor on each arm. 

• Awing-X10

  The Awing-X10 12kg hexarotor is designed by Quadrant Space (Tianjin) Technology and targets clients responsible for public security, forestry, city planning, power line inspection and ...

• Awing-F20

  The Awing-F20 is a fixed-wing UAV designed by Quadrant Space (Tianjin) Technology. The platform was displayed at the 11th Zhuhai Airshow in China, alongside other ...

• Awing-H100J

  The Awing-H100J is a rotary-wing UAV designed by Quadrant Space (Tianjin) Technology. The Awing-H100J was displayed at the 11th Zhuhai Airshow in China, alongside other ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  5A-03

  The Tianjin Aurora UAV 5A-03 is a large, heavy-fuel, three-blade, rotary-wing reconnaissance platform with a double turboshaft engine and a main rotor diameter of 3.4m. The ...

• Awing-F5J/E

  Awing-F5J/E is the smaller model of the Awing- F8E UAV, designed by Quadrant Space (Tianjin) Technology. The Awing-F5J/E was displayed at the 11th Zhuhai Airshow ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Z-19/Z-19E

  The Z-19 is an armed reconnaissance helicopter developed for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). It reportedly made its first flight in 2011 and was ...

• Awing-X5

  The Awing-X5 is a small hexa-rotor UAV designed by Quadrant Space (Tianjin) Technology. The UAV can operate in temperatures -10/+50ºC and has been designed for ...

• Awing-F8E

  The Awing-F8E is a small UAV designed by Quadrant Space (Tianjin) Technology. The UAV was displayed at the 11th Zhuhai Airshow in China, alongside other ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  Azmat Class

  The Pakistan Navy's Azmat-class fast attack craft is based on the Chinese Houjian class (see separate entry). The first in class was manufactured by Tianjin Xingang ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  CH-4

  The CH-4 is a MALE UAV available in two variants, the CH-4A and CH-4B. The China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics developed the platform manufactured by the ...