Pentagon Leaks Show China to Deploy High-Altitude Drones 3 Times Faster Than Sound

Siddhant Sandhu
April 21, 2023
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Following a string of major revelations, US Pentagon documents published on Discord reveal that China is preparing to deploy a cutting-edge high-altitude spy drone, the ‘WZ-8,’ capable of traveling at three times the speed of sound. If the reports are true, they will dramatically improve China’s monitoring capabilities. The drones are cutting-edge surveillance devices that might let China collect real-time mapping data to plan strategies or launch missile attacks in the event of a future confrontation.

Pentagon Leaks Show China to Deploy High Altitude Drones 3 Times Faster Than Sound

In addition, satellite footage from August 9 reveals two WZ-8 rocket-propelled reconnaissance drones at an air base in eastern China, about 350 miles inland from Shanghai. According to the assessment, the Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command, which is responsible for defending Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, “almost certainly” constructed its first unmanned aerial vehicle unit at the station.

China Planning to Push USA

Aside from this future drone, the stolen documents reveal that the Chinese military is working on technologies that will allow it to target American warships and military installations in the region, particularly those near Taiwan. Other materials, such as intelligence revealing new Chinese spy balloons, highlighted Chinese espionage activities and military development. This is especially important now that Beijing has come under scrutiny for its surveillance activities. The US fired down what was allegedly a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over vital American military installations in February of this year. The episode sparked a diplomatic storm between the two antagonists, escalating tensions to unprecedented levels.

Also read: How India’s UAV Programme Is Lacking Behind Against China’s Close To Deploying Supersonic Spy Drones

China WZ 8 Drone 2 — This photograph is part of the leaked classified material after it was distributed in a Discord chatroom. The Post advised the Defence Department that this imagery would accompany the piece. A classified document displays the capabilities and hypothetical flight paths of China’s supersonic reconnaissance drone, as well as satellite photographs of its home base at Liuan Airfield.

Following the spy balloon dispute between China and the United States, media sources said that China has a special and futuristic unit for eavesdropping using high-altitude balloons. According to some claims, Beijing was also snooping using these balloons. In addition to these potentially significant findings for China’s rivals, the Pentagon dossier disclosed that China completed a test of its DF-27 Hypersonic missile in February 2023. The vehicle flew 1,300 miles (2,100 km) in 12 minutes and had a “high probability” of overcoming American ballistic missile defence systems.

What Do We Know About China’s New WZ-8 Drone?

The WZ-8 drones were launched in 2019 when two jet-black aircraft flew past Tiananmen Square to commemorate the People’s Republic of China’s 70th anniversary of its founding. Few observers believed the drones were fully operating at the moment. China displayed the WZ-8 drone during an air show two years later, in 2021, with other cutting-edge drones such as the GJ-11 prototype and the WZ-7, which have become highly popular.

China WZ 8 Drone — When two jet-black drones were paraded over Tiananmen Square in 2019, Beijing made it clear that it intends to deploy upgraded drones in 2019. Few observers thought the drones were completely functioning at the time.

According to Global Times, the WZ-8 is a high-altitude and high-speed UAV for reconnaissance missions, and it is essentially a brand-new near-space aircraft that blends aviation and aeronautic technologies. AVIC said in a statement to the Global Times at the 2021 Air Show that this UAV can acquire high-resolution images of targets under heavy enemy defence and provide essential intelligence and information for all soldiers to conduct battle damage assessments.

The study also includes information on prospective flight trajectories for the drone and the twin-engine H6-M Badger bomber that launched it. The warplane would take off from its home base and fly to an area off China’s east coast before releasing the stealth drone. The drone may then fly into Taiwanese or South Korean airspace at 100,000 feet and three times the speed of sound. The document makes no mention of how the drone is propelled, although it does indicate that the “engine features are primarily associated with rocket fuel.”

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