Airshow China 2018: CASIC unveils WJ-700 armed reconnaissance UAV

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) has unveiled a full-sized model of its new WJ-700 medium-/high-altitude long-endurance (MALE/HALE) armed reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at Airshow China 2018 in Zhuhai.
A full-scale mock up of the WJ-700 MALE/HALE UAV seen with a range of anti-ship and anti-radiation missiles.Photo by: IHS Markit/Kelvin Wong
Under development by CASIC's UAV Technology Institute and marketed by Hiwing General Aviation Equipment, the commercial arm of CASIC's Third Academy, which specialises in the in research and development (R&D) and production of cruise missiles, the turbojet-powered WJ-600 has a stated maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 3,500 kg and an endurance of up to 20 hours.

Unlike the vehicle-launched, cruise missile-like form factor of the company's earlier WJ-500, WJ-600, and WJ-600A/D MALE-class armed reconnaissance UAVs, the WJ-700 adopts a more conventional design with aerodynamically streamlined fuselage that supports a retractable nose wheel, a ventral sensor turret, low-mounted wings with forward-swept trailing edge on the inboard sections tapering to a constant chord outer section and mounting two hardpoints on each wing, and a V-shaped tail assembly with each surface comprising a fin and rudder and a dorsally mounted engine assembly that exhausts to the rear.
janes.com