New Yaoying-2 UCAV made its maiden flight.

China's self-developed Yaoying-2 ("Air Sniper", a new reconnaissance and strike drone, has successfully completed its maiden flight, according to developer Aviation Industry Corporation of China Thursday.

AVIC's Yaoying-2 UCAV taking off for the first time
(Credit: Defense Online)

Aimed at the international market, Yaoying-2 is a medium-altitude, low-speed, long-endurance Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) with both reconnaissance and strike capabilities.

With full automatic control and integrated navigation, the new drone can conduct photoelectric image reconnaissance and surveillance, radar image reconnaissance, and communication signal detection.

The drone can provide real-time image and monitoring information for many fields, including firefighting, disaster relief, aerial photography, oil pipelines, forest fire prevention and land resource surveys.

Based on the Yaoying-1, the six-metre drone can fly at speeds of up to 230km/h at an altitude of 7,500 metres, which is in the middle to high range compared with its peers. It can stay in the air for 16 hours, with controllers up to 200km away, according to the developer.