AVIC Wing Loong II drone.
Photographer: Mikhail Voskresenskiy / AP Images
Photographer: Mikhail Voskresenskiy / AP Images
After twelve years of fighting the Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram, Nigeria is getting some new weapons: a pair of Wing Loong II drones from China. The deal is part of an increasing number of sales by state-owned companies Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC), which exported dozens of aircraft. The UAE used AVIC drones in the Libyan civil war, Egypt attacked rebels in Sinai with them, and troops led by Saudi Arabia sent them to Yemen. The company’s drones “are now battle tested,” says Heather Penney, a researcher at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, a study center in Arlington, Virginia. “They were able to bring the lessons learned back to their manufacturing.”
Nigeria is receiving the second generation of Wing Loongs from AVIC – the name means “pterodactyl” – which can fly at up to 370 km / h and 30,000 feet in height, carrying a payload of a dozen missiles. Since 2015, when AVIC introduced the newest model, it has produced 50 for export and an unknown number for the People’s Liberation Army of China. And it is working on even more advanced aircraft, such as a stealth combat drone with a flying wing design similar to that of the U.S. B-2 bomber. The drone program, combined with deliveries of fighter jets, trainers, transporters and assault helicopters, propelled AVIC to the top positions in the global arms trade. In 2019, it sold military equipment valued at $ 22.5 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), placing it sixth in the world, behind five American companies.
AVIC drones have two major selling points: they are cheaper than comparable aircraft from producers in the United States or Israel – the other major manufacturers – and China does not care much about how they are used, says Ulrike Franke, policy expert from Europe Council on 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 North American suppliers, 2010-2020
Deletes orders that have not yet been delivered.
In the past decade, China has delivered 220 drones to 16 countries, according to Sipri. This has led other nations to increase their capabilities in the field, says Michael Horowitz, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. Japan, South Korea and Belarus are developing drone technology. Turkey supplied drones that helped Azerbaijan defeat Armenia in last year’s conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. In January, Russia agreed to send drones to Myanmar and is working on long-range models. Serbia and Pakistan say they intend to use purchases from China to sow their own programs. “The proliferation of armed drones is inevitable because of Chinese exports,” says Horowitz.
The Chinese government rejects the accusation that it is fueling an arms race, saying it only aims to improve its customers’ defensive capabilities. And unlike the United States, they refrain from interfering in their internal affairs, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during a February press conference. “We are prudent and responsible in arms exports,” she said. “This is totally different from what the United States does.”
The advance of the Chinese drone poses a challenge to President Biden as he tries to move beyond the Trump administration’s autonomous foreign policy. Last fall, Trump considered AVIC and its subsidiaries part of the Chinese army, restricting their access to U.S. technology. But last summer he reinterpreted the Missile Technology Control Scheme – a 1987 agreement, signed by more than 30 countries, which for a long time maintained control over US drone exports – for allow the sale of many of these aircraft.
Despite criticism from Democrats, Trump agreed to sell 18 General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones to the United Arab Emirates. In November, the government approved a $ 600 million deal to supply Taiwan with four Reapers; and the following month, the Trump State Department informed Congress of a contract to sell four Reapers to Morocco after diplomatic relations were established with Israel. Although Biden said he is looking at the sale of the United Arab Emirates, all three deals are in the process of being finalized.
Visitors see Wing Loong unmanned aerial vehicles at an AVIC assembly plant in Chengdu, in the Chinese province of Sichuan, in 2018.
Photographer: Imaginechina / AP Images
AVIC is at the center of China’s broader drive to develop its aerospace industry, both civilian and military. China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp. it sold combat drones to Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Serbia – the first time that a European country deployed unmanned Chinese aircraft. China North Industries Group Corp. in November he completed the development of his drones for Golden Eagle helicopters, controlled by the Communist Party Global Times the newspaper said they were “designed to meet the demands of the arms trade”. Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, with 12% ownership of AVIC, is developing a jet to compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. And AVIC has joint ventures with about 10 multinationals in civilian businesses with a focus on China, such as aircraft components and avionics.
AVIC’s growing experience is paying off in improving quality, says Pawel Paszak, director of the China Monitor program at the Warsaw Institute, a study center in the Polish capital. Although their drones do not correspond to the best offers from American and Israeli companies, they are increasingly competitive – and the price differential is significant: AVIC’s main drones cost between US $ 1 million and US $ 2 million each, against more than $ 15 million for a comparable American model. “Perhaps Chinese drones are not as good as American drones,” says Paszak. “But 15 drones instead of one, and without any fuss about human rights? This is a good offer. ” —With Lucille Liu, Colum Murphy and Nick Wadhams
BOTTOM LINE –
AVIC sold drones and other military equipment valued at $ 22.5 billion in 2019, making it the sixth largest arms exporter in the world, behind only American companies.