The Wing Loong II drone from AVIC.
Photographer: Mikhail Voskresenskiy / AP Images
Photographer: Mikhail Voskresenskiy / AP Images
After decades of fighting with the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram, Nigeria is getting some new weapons: a pair of Wing Loong II drones from China. The deal is one of a growing number of sales by state-owned companies Aviation Industry Corp. or China (AVIC), which has exported scores of the aircraft. The United Arab Emirates have used AVIC drones in the civil war in Libya, Egypt has joined them in attacking rebels in Sinai and forces led by Saudi Arabia have deployed them in Yemen. The company’s drones “are now being battle tested,” said Heather Penney, a fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, a think tank in Arlington, Virginia. “They have been able to bring the lessons learned back into their production.”
Nigeria is getting AVIC’s second generation Wing Loongs – the name means ‘pterodactyl’ – which can fly at speeds of 230 mph and as much as 9,000 feet, with a payload of a dozen missiles. Since 2015, when AVIC introduced the newer model, 50 have been produced for export and an unknown number for China’s People’s Liberation Army. And it is working on even more advanced aircraft, such as a stealth fighter drone with a flying wing design similar to that of the US B-2 bomber. The drone program, combined with the supply of fighter jets, trainers, transport aircraft and attack helicopters, has propelled AVIC to the upper echelons of the global arms trade. In 2019, it sold $ 22.5 billion worth of military equipment, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), ranking it sixth in the world behind five US companies.
AVIC’s drones have two big selling points: they are cheaper than comparable aircraft from manufacturers in the US or Israel – the other primary manufacturers – and China doesn’t really care how they are used, says Ulrike Franke, policy officer at the European Council for foreign relations. “China is ready to export armed drones to almost anyone,” she says. AVIC did not respond to requests for comment.
Combat drones delivered
By Chinese and American suppliers, 2010-2020
Excluding orders that have yet to be delivered.
China has delivered 220 drones to 16 countries in the past decade, according to Sipri. That has prompted other countries to increase their capabilities in the field, said Michael Horowitz, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. Japan, South Korea and Belarus are developing drone technology. Turkey provided drones that helped Azerbaijan defeat Armenia during last year’s conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia agreed to send drones to Myanmar in January and is working on longer-range models. Serbia and Pakistan say they plan to use purchases from China to seed their own programs. “The proliferation of armed drones is inevitable because of China’s exports,” Horowitz said.
The Chinese government rejects the charge that it is fueling an arms race, saying it is only intended to improve the defensive capabilities of its customers. And unlike the US, it meddles in their internal affairs, State Department spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a news conference in February. “We are careful and responsible in the export of weapons,” she said. “This is completely different from what the United States is doing.”
The Chinese drone push poses a challenge to President Biden as he tries to move beyond the Trump administration’s go-it-alone foreign policy. Last fall, Trump viewed AVIC and its subsidiaries as part of the Chinese military, limiting their access to US technology. But last summer he reinterpreted the Missile Technology Control Regime – a 1987 agreement signed by more than 30 countries that had long held the export of US drones under pressure – to allow the sale of many such aircraft.
Despite criticism from Democrats, Trump agreed to sell 18 General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones to the UAE. In November, the government approved a $ 600 million deal to supply Taiwan with four Reapers; and the following month, Trump’s State Department informed Congress of a contract to sell four Reapers to Morocco after establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. While Biden has said he is reviewing sales in the UAE, all three deals are on track to be finalized.
Visitors view Wing Loong unmanned aerial vehicles at an AVIC assembly plant in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China in 2018.
Photographer: Imaginechina / AP Images
AVIC is at the heart of a wider push from China to develop its aerospace industry, both civil and military. China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp. has sold combat drones to Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Serbia – the first time a European country has deployed unmanned Chinese aircraft. China North Industries Group Corp. completed development of its Golden Eagle helicopter drones, controlled by the Communist Party, in November Worldwide times the paper said they were “designed to meet the demands of the arms trade.” Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, 12% owned by AVIC, is developing a jet to compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. And AVIC has joint ventures with about 10 multinationals in China-focused civil companies, such as aircraft parts and avionics.
AVIC’s growing expertise is paying off in improved quality, says Pawel Paszak, director of the China Monitor program at the Warsaw Institute, a think tank in the Polish capital. While its drones don’t match the best offerings from U.S. and Israeli companies, they’re becoming more competitive – and the price difference is significant: AVIC’s best drones run $ 1 million to $ 2 million each, versus over $ 15 million for a comparable American. fashion model. “Maybe Chinese drones are not as good as American drones,” says Paszak. “Only fifteen drones instead of one, and without any fuss about human rights? This is a good offer. ” —With Lucille Liu, Colum Murphy and Nick Wadhams
UNDERLINE –
AVIC sold drones and other military equipment worth $ 22.5 billion in 2019, making it the sixth arms exporter in the world after only US companies.