AVIC’s Wing Loong II drone.
Photographer: Mikhail Voskresenskiy / AP Images
Photographer: Mikhail Voskresenskiy / AP Images
For decades in its struggle with the Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram, Nigeria is getting new weapons: some Wing Loong II drones from China. The transaction is one of a growing number of state-owned sales Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC), which exported the number of aircraft. The United Arab Emirates used AVIC drones in Libya’s civil war, Egypt attacked rebels in Sinai with them and Saudi-led troops deployed them in Yemen. The company’s drones are now being tested, says Heather Penney, a fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, a think tank in Arlington, Va. “They were able to give back lessons in their manufacturing.”
Nigeria gets AVIC’s second generation Wing Loongs – the name means ‘pterodactyl’ – which can fly as fast as 230 km / h and up to 30,000 feet, with a payload of a dozen missiles. Since 2015, when AVIC introduced the newer model, it has produced 50 for export and an unknown number for China’s People’s Liberation Army. And it works on even more advanced aircraft, such as a stolen drone with a flying wing design similar to that of the American B-2 bomber. The drone program, combined with deliveries of fighter jets, trainers, transporters and attack helicopters, has driven AVIC into the upper ranks of global trade. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), it sold $ 22.5 billion worth of military equipment in 2019, placing it sixth in the world behind five U.S. companies.
AVIC’s drones have two major selling points: they are cheaper than comparable aircraft from manufacturers in the US or Israel – the other primary manufacturers – and China does not care much about how they are used, says Ulrike Franke, policy partner at the European Council on Foreign Affairs Relationships. “China is prepared to export armed drones to almost everyone,” she said. AVIC did not respond to requests for comment.
Battle drones delivered
By Chinese and American Suppliers, 2010-2020
Exclude orders that still need to be delivered.
According to Sipri, China has delivered 220 drones to 16 countries over the past decade. It has encouraged other states to advance 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 has delivered drones that helped Azerbaijan defeat Armenia in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh last year. Russia agreed in January to send drones to Myanmar and work on long-range models. Serbia and Pakistan say they plan to use purchases from China to broadcast their own programs. “The proliferation of armed drones is inevitable due to Chinese exports,” Horowitz said.
The Chinese government rejects the charge that it is inciting an arms race, saying that it is only aimed at improving the defense capabilities of its customers. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, unlike the US, refrained from interfering in their internal affairs. “We are sensible and responsible in exporting weapons,” she said. “It’s completely different from what the United States does.”
The Chinese drone push presents a challenge for President Biden as he tries to go beyond the Trump administration’s own foreign policy. Last fall, Trump viewed AVIC and its subsidiaries as part of the Chinese military, restricting their access to U.S. technology. But last summer he had the Missile Technology Control Regime – a 1987 agreement signed by more than 30 countries that has long kept a lid on US drone exports – to sales of many such 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 maggots; and the following month, Trump’s foreign ministry briefed Congress on a contract to sell four maggots to Morocco following the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel. Although Biden has said it will review the sale of the UAE, all three transactions are on track to be completed.
Visitors inspect unmanned aircraft from Wing Loong in 2018 at an AVIC assembly plant in Chengdu in Sichuan Province, China.
Photographer: Imaginechina / AP Images
AVIC is at the heart of a broader push by China to develop its aviation industry, both civilian and military. China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp. has sold fighter jets to Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Serbia – the first time a European country has used Chinese unmanned aircraft. China North Industries Group Corp. completed the development of its Communist Party-controlled Golden Eagle helicopter drones in November. Global Times According to the newspaper, it is ‘designed to meet the demands of the arms trade’. Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, which is 12% owned by AVIC, is developing an aircraft to compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. And AVIC has joint ventures with about ten multinational companies in China-oriented civilian enterprises such as aircraft components and aerospace companies.
AVIC’s growing expertise is bearing fruit in improved quality, says Pawel Paszak, director of the China Monitor program at the Warsaw Institute, a think tank in the Polish capital. Although the drones do not match the best offerings of American and Israeli companies, they are increasingly competitive – and the price difference is significant: AVIC’s best drones are $ 1 to $ 2 million compared to more than $ 15 million for a comparable American model . “Maybe Chinese drones are not as good as American drones,” Paszak says. ‘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 –
AVIC sold $ 22.5 billion worth of drones and other military equipment in 2019, making it the world’s number 6 arms exporter, behind only US companies.