(MENAFN- Asia Times) Chinese scientists have developed a new type of war drone that can rapidly multiply midair, a tactical shock and awe phenomenon against potential adversaries like the US, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported .
The new drone is similar to a consumer-grade Chinese DJI multirotor, which can split into two, three or even six smaller drones depending on battle needs.
Each drone has only one blade but can hover, move freely like a regular drone and communicate with other drones. Each can also play a specific role such as command, surveillance, tracking and even attack while collaborating to complete a mission.
SCMP notes that progress in this technology has been slow due to the significantly decreased flight efficiency of traditional drones combined.
However, a research team led by Professor Shi Zhiwei from Nanjing University's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics claims to have overcome this challenge, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica journal last month.
Shi's team said the drone combination boasted a flight efficiency nearly twice that of a similar-sized multirotor drone. Even after separation, the team says their flight efficiency remained more than 40% higher than traditional small drones – the apparent first demonstration that combined drones could outperform single drones in any flight state.
SCMP points out that China's one-blade drone, which can be launched by hand like throwing a boomerang and take off vertically from the ground, resembles Lockheed Martin's “Samarai” drone , which can hover in midair and land in a specific area.
However, SCMP says that Lockheed Martin's drone is constrained by its endurance, payload capacity and limited autonomy. The source also notes that while the US envisioned deploying these drones from large aircraft, they risked being shot down.
It also says that other Western teams have developed similar models but so far without large-scale practical applications.
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