New Chinese supersonic UAV WZ-8 suspended under the fuselage of the Xian H-6MW missile bomber.
Chinese WZ-8 UAV is capable of reaching speeds three times the speed of sound at an altitude of 30 kilometers.
It is designed for strategic aerial reconnaissance across southeast Asia, particularly Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
WZ-8 cannot take off under its own power and is air-launched from a Xi'an H-6M mothership once the H-6 reaches a prescribed speed and altitude. The drone then ignites its rocket motors, pushing it to its operating speed and altitude.
US intelligence reports have displayed it in hypothetical operation in a diagram, with the drone flying over Taiwan or the Yellow Sea at a speed of Mach 3 and altitude of 100,000 feet (30,000 m)
Chinese WZ-8 UAV is capable of reaching speeds three times the speed of sound at an altitude of 30 kilometers.
It is designed for strategic aerial reconnaissance across southeast Asia, particularly Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
WZ-8 cannot take off under its own power and is air-launched from a Xi'an H-6M mothership once the H-6 reaches a prescribed speed and altitude. The drone then ignites its rocket motors, pushing it to its operating speed and altitude.
US intelligence reports have displayed it in hypothetical operation in a diagram, with the drone flying over Taiwan or the Yellow Sea at a speed of Mach 3 and altitude of 100,000 feet (30,000 m)