China is banking on its Wing Loong unmanned aerial system (UAS) to improve its standing in the civilian and military markets for aerial drones.

Chengdu Aircraft Design & Research Institute (CADI), a subsidiary of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which makes Wing Loong, "is more ambitious and confident than ever before," said Li Yidong, vice chief designer of CADI and chief designer of the Wing Loong UAS series.

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"The UAS industry could be a turning point for China's aviation industry. Such is the potential of the system that it could define the future of our aviation industry," he said.

CADI claims its Wing Loong has earned a great reputation and market share around the world by virtue of its leading edge technologies and reliable performance. It said the prestige of Wing Loong has set the stage for China to tap into the global military drone market.

In it military guise, Wing Loong is a cost-effective, easy-to-operate, multi-purpose and long-endurance hunter-reconnaissance UAS.

Also known in the West as the Chengdu Pterodactyl I, Wing Loong is a Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) UAS popular as a cheaper alternative to U.S.-made aerial drones such as the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, which has killed more persons than any other UAS. Loong is the Chinese word for dragon.

Wing Loong is intended for use as a surveillance and aerial reconnaissance platform and as an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) fitted with air-to-surface weapons.

It can carry Chinese-made BA-7 air-to-ground missiles; YZ-212 laser-guided cluster bombs; YZ-102A cluster bombs and 50 kg LS-6 miniature guided bombs. Among the UCAV's operators are China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Uzbekistan.

The Wing Loong UAS series exported worldwide consists of the Wing Loong I, Wing Loong ID and Wing Loong II. These vehicles made the public debut at the 2016 Zhuhai Airshow that opened Nov. 1.

"It is a pioneer in wartime and a scout in peacetime," said Li.

"Hunter-reconnaissance UAS' like Wing Loong enables prompt identification and attack on fleeting targets which are sensitive to time. This sort of capability is not available for previous UASs or even manned aircraft."

TagsWing Loong unmanned aerial system, aerial drone, china, Chengdu Aircraft Design & Research Institute, Li Yidong, unmanned combat aerial vehicle, UCAV