Cloud Shadow UAV emerges

 
Cloud Shadow is powered by an 'indigenous' WP11C turbojet engine. Source: IHS/Kelvin Wong



Developed by AVIC's Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) subsidiary, the export-oriented Cloud Shadow is available in two configurations: the armed reconnaissance model, which has a maximum speed of 550 km/h but a payload capacity of 400 kg, and six underwing hardpoints for external stores; and a dedicated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform, which features a higher maximum speed of 620 km/h but can only carry a 200 kg payload comprising communication, and radar surveillance equipment, or high-definition photo-reconnaissance systems.

The ISR and armed reconnaissance variants are similarly equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for improved moving target tracking performance, although only the latter carries a belly-mounted electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor turret for target designation and post-strike battle-damage assessment (BDA).

 
9 m long and 3.66 m tall airframe with a mid-mounted wing design that spans 17.8 m and features a forward-swept trailing edge on the inboard section tapering to a constant chord outer section, the Cloud Shadow's wings are swept back about 10°.

The Cloud Shadow is also equipped with V tail surfaces and a dorsally mounted pod for its propulsion system. This was revealed by AVIC to be the WP11C turbojet engine, a "modernised and refined" version of the original WP11 system developed by the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) for unmanned aircraft applications.


The Cloud Shadow UAV. (IHS/Kelvin Wong)




Zhuhai air show seals US$40b worth of deals. Xinhua
 
A total of 402 deals worth over 40 billion U.S. dollars were struck at the 11th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, the organizer said Sunday.
The six-day exhibition closed Sunday, attracting more than 700 exhibitors from 42 countries and regions and 400,000 professional and general audience.
A total of 151 aircraft attended the air show, including China's most-advanced J-20 stealth fighter.
Customers ordered 187 aircraft at the fair. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) was the winner, with one leasing firm ordering 40 regional jets ARJ21-700 and two others ordering 56 large passenger aircraft C919.