China to pair new battle drone with J-20 stealth fighter jet, says report
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China's most sophisticated stealth fighter plane, the J-20 Mighty Dragon, will be operated alongside a new cutting-edge combat drone that the country is developing, which may equal the jet's speed.
J-20's and the FH-97A's fuselage designs are comparable, indicating that the FH-97A might perhaps fly as quickly as the Mighty Dragon, claims a South China Morning Post (SCMP) report from Saturday.
The coupling of the FH-97A with the J-20 will liberate the J-20 from frontline combat operations so that it can specialize in activities like "command and control, data distribution, and communication disruption," per the most recent issue of Navy and Merchant Ships magazine.
This would increase the likelihood that fighter jet pilots and their aircraft would survive combat, according to the magazine.
Eight smaller, "intelligent" air-to-air missiles or loitering munitions can be carried by the combat drone, making up for the J-20's deficiency in ammo.
'Loyal Wingman': Super-speed variant FH-97A
In November, the FH-97A made its debut at the yearly Zhuhai air show in southern China.
The FH-97A drone is being developed by Feihong Company, a division of the government-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The US Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie, a jet-powered drone built to fly alongside manned fighter jets like the F-35 or F-22 and navigate on its own, has been compared to the high-speed combat drone by Western media.
However, Zhou Chenming, a military analyst based in Beijing, claimed that they were "two different designs with their own merits."
"The Valkyrie is a subsonic drone, while the FH-97A is a super-speed variant," he explained.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army continues to invest more resources in hybrid warfare, which combines human and unmanned weapon systems, making it crucial that unmanned aerial vehicles be integrated into combat operations alongside piloted aircraft.
If more of these "loyal wingman" drones are created and sent into service, drone warfare might assist the PLA in preventing US planes from conducting close-range reconnaissance around China's southeast coast, claims a Chinese naval expert, noted SCMP report.
"Drone warfare could help the PLA to deter US aircraft from conducting close-in reconnaissance along China's southeastern coast if it can develop more of these 'loyal wingman' drones and get them into service," said Beijing-based navy specialist Li Jie pointing out that China began researching drone technology in the 1960s.
He claimed that the Chinese People's Liberation Army had increased its investment in hybrid warfare, which combines manned and unmanned weapon systems, as a result of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the conflict in Ukraine.
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