China Matches US Switchblade Drone Of Ukraine Fame

(MENAFN- Asia Times)

China is touting its FH-901 suicide drone, which on visual inspection seems quite like the Switchblade loitering munition the US has sent as military assistance to embattled Ukraine.

This month, Global Times cited a video showcasing military equipment made by China Aerospace Science and technology Corporation during a forum. The video features live-fire exercises using armed reconnaissance drones such as the CH-4 and CH-5, with exotic models such as the CH-10 tilt-rotor drone and FH-901 loitering munition.

Part of the video shows the FH-901 fired from a mortar-like launcher. The drone then deploys its fins upon leaving the launch tube and is guided by its controllers to slam into the top of a tank target where its armor is thinnest, obliterating it. The source also notes that the FH-901 can also be launched from aircraft and other drones.

Although details about the FH-901's specifications are scant, defense website Global Security mentions that the drone is 1.2 meters long, weighs nine kilograms, has a 150-kilometers per hour top speed, 15-kilometer operation radius, and 120-minute flight endurance. In addition, the source notes it can be launched from a container and ready to use in 3 minutes.

Global Security mentions that the FH-901 can detect targets from 1.5 kilometers from an altitude of 450 meters and can be armed with an anti-personnel fragmentation charge or a shaped charge capable of penetrating 10 centimeters of armor.

Global Times notes that Chinese military observers have called the FH-901 a counterpart to the US-made Switchblade drone, which has seen action in the ongoing Ukraine War.

The FH-901 and Switchblade are examples of loitering munitions. They are fully autonomous weapons that can“search for, decide to engage, and engage targets on their own” in such a way that no human can intervene, as defined in a Tech Stream article .

Kelsey Atherton in Tech Stream contrasts loitering munitions with semi-autonomous homing missiles, noting that the latter requires human input and has short flight times. He mentions that although the AGM-88 anti-radiation missile and Harpy loitering munition are both designed to attack air defense sites, the AGM-88 has 4.5 minutes between launch and detonation, with a range of 88 kilometers.

The Harpy, on the other hand, can search for targets for 2.5 hours and can travel more than 482 kilometers.

Atherton notes that loitering munitions' low speed and extended flight time make them more effective than traditional missiles. He likens them to“airborne landmines,” as they respond to pre-programmed environmental parameters that they can detect with their onboard sensors. 

Against enemy armor, loitering munitions combine the deadliness of anti-tank missiles and drones' persistent surveillance and targeting capabilities.

In an article for defense website Sandboxx , George Hand notes that anti-tank missiles such as TOW and Javelin are destructive but have zero loiter time. However, he mentions that drones like Raven and Puma have formidable surveillance capabilities but no attack capability while loitering munitions combine the best features of both into one formidable weapon.

The recent video showing was not the first time China has boasted about the FH-901. In September 2020, state-owned company China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETGC) released a video of FH-901 drones, then known as the CH-901, being rapid-fired from a truck-mounted launcher and dropped from a helicopter. The drones then assumed a swarm formation and crashed into practice targets.

China's advances in loitering munitions can enable it to fill in a market vacuum created by US restrictive policies on drone exports. In an article for Air and Space Forces Magazine , Greg Hadley notes that the US adheres to the 1987 Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which classifies unmanned systems as nuclear missiles.

As a result, proposed foreign military sales of US drones have frequently been denied by the US State Department, creating an increasingly untenable situation as more states and non-state actors field drones.

Hadley notes that the United States' continued adherence to the MTCR's classification of drones has paradoxically had the opposite effect of encouraging instead of preventing drone proliferation. He notes that at least 95 countries operate drones, with 32 countries importing from China.

Given that situation, China can offer its FH-901 alternative to difficult-to-acquire US loitering munitions. The sale of loitering munitions could be a potentially attractive foreign policy tool for China to further its strategic interests.

In the RAND book China's Arms Sales: Motivations and Implications Daniel Blyman and Roger Cliff note that China's interests in arms sales consist of strengthening the enemies of its adversaries, expanding its political influence in regions such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East, maintaining its defense industries and stimulating domestic R&D by competing in foreign markets.

Apart from China, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and other players compete in the market for loitering munitions, which adds more to the possibility of proliferation.

However, selling loitering munitions to weak states poses significant security risks. A 2022 study by the Project on International Peace and Security notes that weak regimes can use loitering munitions to maintain their hold on power by deploying them against protesters, regime opponents and regional rivals, opening more contested spaces with the threat of escalation.

The study notes that the best way to stop the proliferation of loitering munitions is to reclassify them as light weapons, a stark difference from their classification under the MTCR.

Given this, it notes the success of that approach in regulating man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), which during the Cold War were considered too high-tech at the time due to features such as infrared imaging. But today, MANPADS are included in all lists of light weapons due to their risk to civilian aviation.

A similar reclassification of loitering munitions into light weapons may pave the way for international efforts to limit their proliferation, which aims to replicate international efforts in curbing MANPADS proliferation.

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