CH-5 Rainbow

The CH-5 is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle marketed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and produced by its China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA). It is the largest member of the Rainbow (Caihong) series and is armed for combined reconnaissance and strike missions. Chinese officials have described its performance as comparable to the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper at less than half the price.

Development

The CH-5 conducted its maiden flight in August 2015 and made its first airshow appearance in July 2017 in northern Hebei province. Development continued with a re-engining effort intended to raise the service ceiling and endurance, and plans were announced to extend range to 20,000 km. Iraq placed an order for the type in 2024.

Design

The CH-5 has a wingspan of 21 m, a maximum takeoff weight of over 3 tonnes, and a payload of 1,000 kg. Endurance is up to 60 hours with a range of 10,000 km and a service ceiling of 9 km. Powerplant is an unidentified turbo-charged piston engine developing less than half the horsepower of the Garrett TPE331 turboprop fitted to the MQ-9 Reaper; this limits altitude to 9 km against the Reaper's 12–15 km, but extends endurance to 60 hours against the Reaper's 14 hours. A later engine fit uses a 300 kW piston engine from Anhui Hangrui Co., raising the ceiling to 12 km and endurance to 120 hours. A shared data link allows the CH-5 to operate cooperatively with CH-3 and CH-4 aircraft.

Armament

The CH-5 can carry a maximum of 16 missiles at one time within its 1,000 kg payload. Documented munitions are the AR-1 and AR-2 air-to-surface missiles. The AR-2 weighs 20 kg with a 5 kg armour-piercing warhead, uses inertial guidance with a terminal semi-active laser seeker, and has a maximum range of 8 km.

Variants

• CH-5 (baseline): Initial production configuration with a turbo-charged piston engine, 9 km service ceiling and 60-hour endurance.
• CH-5 (re-engined): Later variant fitted with a 300 kW Anhui Hangrui piston engine, increasing the service ceiling to 12 km and endurance to 120 hours.