New weapons like the hypersonic drone DR-8, which is very capable and extremely fast, can be used as suicide attackers to destroyer the F-22 and the slower F-35. The Chinese developers say that these are multi-use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of high altitude, recon, and targeting drones.
Cutting-Edge Weaponry for the Chinese Military
The drone first made a public appearance on October 1, 2019, during China's National Day Military Parade, after becoming noticed in unclear satellite photos, reported EurAsian Times.
It was given a different identifier, DR-8, in the same year. In a dispute with US aircraft carrier strike groups in the South China Sea or the Western Pacific, it would be crucial. It also noted how comparable it was to the Lockheed Martin D-21 drone, which was the topic of the latest EurAsian Times report.
According to Beijing-based military analyst Zhou Chenming, quoted in the report, the DR-8 can travel more rapidly than the DF-21 ballistic missile. It can blow through enemy air defense systems and return completely unscathed with intelligence at a top speed of Mach 3.3.
It would reach almost Mach 4, which is close to hypersonic speeds if it moved much faster than Mach 3. In their state media, speed and technical capabilities are hardly discussed. But his following statement that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had been employing UAVs that could reach as far as US bases like Guam was even more shocking.
Based on the lack of readily recognizable special paint, finishing, and metal work that soaks up radar, the structure does not appear to be fully stealthy for the hypersonic drone DR-8. It has, however, unquestionably been created with very little visibility in thought.
Built To Hunt Down 5th Generation US Stealth Fighters
A previous SCMP report from last year that quoted Chinese researchers as having overcome this hurdle would seem constant with the analysis regarding the landing gears designed for bringing the plane to a halt at hypothetical hypersonic speeds.
In a paper published in the September 1 issue of Tactical Missile Technology, PLAAF researcher Fei Dai claimed that landing an unmanned aircraft flying at over five times the rate of sound on a basic runway would be safer.
The PLAAF and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics augmented the software to much more reliably predict future landing situations instead of just continuing to increase the computing and processing power of onboard flight control systems.
At an official meeting in Xi'an in 2020, Wang Xing, a scholar at China's Air Force Engineering University, reportedly stated that hypersonic UAVs could be used against F-22s and F-35s.
While stealth technology is unnecessary in close combat, according to Xing, a hypersonic UAV used by China's land-based air defense system could overtake an F-22 in a matter of seconds once it releases an explosive or a missile.
Recent SCMP coverage of a breakthrough in steady hypersonic communication systems made by Chinese researchers provides concrete evidence that the UAV may benefit from the research.
The plasma sheath, a thin layer of exceedingly hot, electrically charged particles that show up on the vessel's exterior at hypersonic speed, is the origin of the communication outage.
Such a hypersonic drone DR-8 was made for several purposes, including suicide attacks on the F-22 and F-25; it is an asymmetrical system devised by Chinese scientists.
