WZ-8 (), is an

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

produced by

Aviation Industry Corporation of China The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is a Chinese state-owned publicly-traded aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Beijing. AVIC is overseen by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the ...

(AVIC). Introduced during China's 70th anniversary military parade, the drone is intended to conduct strategic

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or Strategy, strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including Artillery observer, artillery spott ...

across

southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, particularly

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Its reconnaissance capabilities reportedly include

electro-optical Electro–optics is a branch of electrical engineering, electronic engineering, materials science, and material physics involving components, electronic devices such as lasers, laser diodes, LEDs, waveguides, etc. which operate by the propaga ...

imaging,

synthetic-aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...

, and other sensors. Some have suggested the drone will be weaponized to provide strategic

anti-access/area denial Anti-access/area denial (or A2/AD) is a military strategy to control access to and within an operating environment. In an early definition, anti-access refers to those actions and capabilities, usually long-range, designed to prevent an opposing ...

capabilities. The drone cannot take off under its own power, instead it is air-launched from a Xi'an H-6M mothership once the H-6 reaches a prescribed speed and altitude.

Design and development

WZ-8 was observed in Chinese Airforce experimental test bases by military analysts on satellite images. The vehicle was revealed to the public on 1 October 2019 and was subsequently displayed at

Zhuhai Airshow China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (), also known as the Airshow China () and Zhuhai Airshow (), is a biennial international aerospace trade expo held in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Guangdong, since 1996. It is the largest ai ...

in 2021. WZ-8 is a supersonic-hypersonic, remotely operated, high-altitude reconnaissance vehicle. The aircraft bears some superficial resemblance to the

DF-ZF The DF-ZF is a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) developed by the People's Republic of China. It is launched by the DF-17 medium-range ballistic missile. The combined weapon system was likely operational by October 2019. The United States once refer ...

hypersonic glide vehicle A hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is a type of warhead for ballistic missiles that can maneuver and glide at hypersonic speed. It is used in conjunction with ballistic missiles to significantly change their trajectories after launch. Convention ...

mounted onboard

DF-17 The Dongfeng-17 (; NATO reporting name: CH-SS-22), is a Chinese solid-fuelled road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile designed to carry the DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle. Design The DF-17 uses the rocket booster from the DF-16B short-range ...

medium-range ballistic missile A medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) is a type of ballistic missile with medium range (aeronautics), range, this last classification depending on the standards of certain organizations. Within the United States Department of Defense, U.S. D ...

and the American

Lockheed D-21 The Lockheed D-21 is an American supersonic Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle, drone. The D-21 was initially designed to be launched from the back of an Lockheed A-12#M-21, M-21 carrier aircraft, a variant of the Loc ...

reconnaissance drone, albeit different in overall dimensions, propulsions, and speed. The drone is launched by a Xi'an H-6M bomber 'mothership', at its appropriate launch attitude. The WZ-8 then ignites its rocket motors, pushing the drone to its operating speed and altitude. The intended roles for the drone include general reconnaissance, pre-attack target assessment, and intelligence gathering. According to the manufacturer claims, the drone can reach hypersonic speed at the cruise altitude of , at near-space level. US intelligence reports displayed it in hypothetical operation in a diagram, with the drone flying over

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

at a speed of Mach 3 and altitude of . A drone able to sustain flight at a high altitude and speed would allow it to fill up intelligence needs in a combat environment where satellite support is unsustainable, such as repeated fly-over above specific areas of interest. According to Chi Li-pin, director of the aeronautical systems research division of

National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST; ) is a Taiwanese state owned corporation, formerly part of the Ministry of National Defense's Armaments Bureau, which is active in the development, manufacturing, support, and ...

, Taiwan’s military-run weapons developer, the drone’s primary use won't be against Taiwan but instead US military bases in the Pacific, saying "It's a weapon for

." Dean Cheng of the

Potomac Institute for Policy Studies The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is an independent, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit public policy research institute located in Arlington, Virginia. The institute was founded in , shortly after the Congressional Office of Technology Assessme ...

said the aircraft is intended for surveillance "not just aimed at the United States or South Korea, Japan has to worry about it. India has to worry about it. All Southeast Asia has to worry about it."

Operational history

A 2023 leak of classified U.S. government documents made public a January 2023 report by the

National Geospatial Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to support national se ...

(NGA) and the

National Air and Space Intelligence Center The National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) is the United States Air Force unit for analyzing military intelligence on foreign air forces, weapons, and systems. NASIC assessments of aerospace performance characteristics, capabiliti ...

(NASIC) which stated that China has "almost certainly” established its first supersonic UAV unit operating the WZ-8 at Liu'an Airbase, in Dushan County, outside

Lu'an Lu'an ( zh, c=, p=Lù'ān), is a prefecture-level city in western Anhui province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. As of the 2020 census, it had a total population of 4,393,699 inhabitants ...

. The base falls under

Eastern Theater Command The Eastern Theater Command () is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), founded 1 February 2016. It replaced the Nanjing Military Region. The command is headquartered in Nanjing. Its jurisdiction includes Jia ...

, the unit charged with conducting operations against Taiwan and in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

. The document stated that the drone's sensors, including electro-optical imaging and

(SAR), could gather intelligence on Taiwan and the western side of South Korea. The drone was reportedly deployed at Anqing Airbase in 2021. In 2023, US intelligence reported the drone and its H-6 mothership are currently operated by the

Eastern Theater Command Air Force The Eastern Theater Command Air Force is the air force under the Eastern Theater Command. Its headquarters is in Nanjing, Jiangsu. The current commander is Wu Junbao and the current political commissar is . History On 1 February 2016, the fo ...

out of Liu'an Airbase in

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

province. The H-6M bombers are reported to belong to the 10th Bomber Division.

Operators

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

*** 10th Bomber Division, Liu'an Airbase *** 10th Bomber Division, Anqing Airbase

Specifications

Data from BulgarianMilitary

References

{{Chinese Military Aircraft Unmanned military aircraft of China Unmanned stealth aircraft Chinese bomber aircraft WZ-8 Rocket-powered aircraft Twin-engined aircraft Tailless delta-wing aircraft

Design and development

Operational history

Operators

Specifications

See also

References