WZ-8 Supersonic Reconnaissance UAV

Orionblamblam said:
GARGEAN said:
I like how people are discussing surface finish of an airframe they don't even know if being flyworthy or mockup AGAIN.
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Thing is, a mockup would look *better.* If this is a mockup, they went to a lot more effort than is normally gone to for such things. It's entirely possible that this is just a model, but it's one that the ChiComs went to unusual lengths to make look realistic.
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Exactly so. a mockup would likely be a fibreglass shell, not this metal panel structure.
 
Are there man portable hyperspectral imaging or penetrating radar systems available to "the public" to take "images" of displayed military equipment?

What kind of trouble would a person get into for bringing such a thing into an airshow? (and getting noticed by the authorities of course)
 
vpk.name

China's UAV: supersonic reconnaissance WZ-8

According to national sources, the development of China's high-altitude supersonic reconnaissance UAV WZ-8 specialists of Beihang Yuchangying UAV Technology Company (Beijing) began in 2011. At the same time, they were based on data on a similar device under the designation D-21, which American...
vpk.name vpk.name

According to the information received, the WZ-8 has a maximum flight range of about 3000 km and can maneuver at an altitude of up to 100 km. The plumage of the drone has movable steering surfaces that provide maneuvers along the course and in height. The duration of the flight at speeds of MACH 4, 5 and 6 is 45, 30 and 16.5 minutes, respectively.
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I would be surprised if it can performed any manoeuvre at 100km altitude besides falling back down. And the range seems wholly unrealistic given the size stated on wiki, even with some kind of RDE.
 
Forest Green said:
vpk.name

China's UAV: supersonic reconnaissance WZ-8

According to national sources, the development of China's high-altitude supersonic reconnaissance UAV WZ-8 specialists of Beihang Yuchangying UAV Technology Company (Beijing) began in 2011. At the same time, they were based on data on a similar device under the designation D-21, which American...
vpk.name vpk.name

According to the information received, the WZ-8 has a maximum flight range of about 3000 km and can maneuver at an altitude of up to 100 km. The plumage of the drone has movable steering surfaces that provide maneuvers along the course and in height. The duration of the flight at speeds of MACH 4, 5 and 6 is 45, 30 and 16.5 minutes, respectively.
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I would be surprised if it can performed any manoeuvre at 100km altitude besides falling back down. And the range seems wholly unrealistic given the size stated on wiki, even with some kind of RDE.
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That doesn’t sound right. 100KM is literally demarcation point for space and control surfaces can’t really respond at that altitude.
 
Plus 100 km altitude makes the plane more vulnerable to abm systems. Sweet spot altitude for its survivability would be over sm-6 ceiling. So, say, 40+ km?
 
One source I read credited the engines as being the 3rd stage from one of the Long March series (I want to say 4A). Can't remember which engine or where I saw it, but it wasn't something especially reputable. But when I looked the upper stage up, it was a hypergolic UDMH/N2O4 type. So potentially the engine could boost and restart to extend range, as someone else mentioned above. The article alleged that it has a SAR, but if so it would have to be a smaller one an I do wonder how power would be generated.
 
totoro said:
Plus 100 km altitude makes the plane more vulnerable to abm systems. Sweet spot altitude for its survivability would be over sm-6 ceiling. So, say, 40+ km?
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Would hope SM-6 can reach higher than that. Even Nike Hercules could reach 45km.
 
I wouldn’t have thought booster rockets would be necessary with air launch. Also would think clearance and drag would be issues.
 
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Why go to all the effort in wasting weight/space for landing gear then, they could have even gone for basic skids too.
 
X-15 had better performance. It just looks cool atop a trailer…it’s real mission.
 
Please see it in the context of the South China sea and their large network of basing. The glider simply fly straight past its mission search area and land in one of their outposts.
 
sferrin said:
Must have a relatively short range.
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Well, like @TomcatViP already noted, if the range is sufficient for the mission it is aimed for, then it is still enough ... even more so since a quite substantial part of the rage is flown under its carrier-aircraft.
 
siegecrossbow said:
That doesn’t sound right. 100KM is literally demarcation point for space and control surfaces can’t really respond at that altitude.
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If it use liquid rocket motor odds are it will have TVC, that's one could get to maneuver at such altitude. just dont expect some crazy maneuver tho. maybe pitch up or down or to keep AOA to ensure maximum L/D during glide

Josh_TN said:
I do wonder how power would be generated.
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Well one can have little "APU" using small fraction of propellant from the main tank. Or more complicated self contained system with its own fuel. It can also tap the tank's pressurization system for turbine. Or even battery.

Given it's observation mission. It wont need too much power, like SAR Radar only needs maybe tens of Watts as the intended target are land and have RCS of thousands to millions of square meters. Antenna size would be dictated by frequency and techniques being used.

For high resolution. "Spotlight" SAR technique might be used which require constant illumination of the area being mapped, this would dictate phased array or some conventional antenna with gimbal maybe like SR-71's apparently still classified SAR radar.
 
stealthflanker said:
If it use liquid rocket motor odds are it will have TVC, that's one could get to maneuver at such altitude. just dont expect some crazy maneuver tho. maybe pitch up or down or to keep AOA to ensure maximum L/D during glide
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We don't see anything looking like a reaction control system nozzle on the shapes carried on the trailers, though.
 
4decaa said:
https://www.businessinsider.com/china-supersonic-spy-drone-looks-like-lockheed-d21-2024-4
View attachment 727360

An incredible article from Business Insider, which I implore you all to look at for some absolutely critical observations about these two ISR platforms.

Major similarities include:
1. the color black
2. aerodynamic surfaces
3. unmanned
4. the capability to fly

seriously though... how did this get approved? lol
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It caters to the audience group. That’s how it gets approved.
 
How does something like that even get published?

I feel a google search would have ended that in five minutes, even to a rookie.
 

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