China took a major step forward in the development of its unmanned flight technology with the successful test flight of its advanced drone system, Rainbow No. 4.

The drone rolled from the factory directly into a first test flight that was declared a success, according to Li Pingkun, head of the Rainbow unmanned aerial vehicle project.

Like Us on Facebook

“During acceleration and deceleration," Liu said, "the drone kept taxiing on a central line on the runway. It’s well positioned carry out the subsequent missions.”

The development team said the new drone system can now deploy anytime to respond to actual intelligence-gathering purposes, or to attack targets within any theatre of operations.

Its most immediate role would be for simulated target practice. Manufactured by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China or AVIC, Rainbow No. 4 could also carry missiles and bombs, and can be enabled to perform precise real-time reconnaissance missions, or even a sudden strike.

"To ensure sudden strike, we designed a very long wing of 18 meters, while the drone body is only 9 meters. This would improve its lift, and reduce drone weight," Li said.

Experts helping in the Rainbow program say the aerial vehicle has stealth capability that may be more advanced than that developed by U.S. manufacturers. The other major characteristics include its large carrying capacity, fast speed, and strong defense and attack capabilities.

Nie Haitao, deputy head of the Chengdu Division, said that in the future, “when the smart processing capability is more developed, unmanned drone may dominate military attack.” But he does not believe drones will entirely ease out manned aerial technology in the near future.

“The current model is still for a hybrid of manned and unmanned military attack," Nie said.

Forecast International, a private market researcher, says that AVIC will be the number one drone producer globally by 2023. China would have produced nearly US$6 billion worth of unmanned aerial vehicles by then.

Tagsdrones, China military, China defense, Rainbow No. 4, Military