ShieldAfrica 2019: China unveils its Sky Saker FX500 turbojet reconnaissance UAV.

Chinese Company NORINCO (China North Industries Group Corporation Limited) unveils its new turbojet reconnaissance UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Sky Saker FX500 at ShieldAfrica 2019, the International Defense and Security Exhibition in Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire. The design of this new Chinese UAV seems very similar to the American Predator C.

Chinese-made Sky Saker FX500 turbojet reconnaissance UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Picture source NORINCO brochure)

The Chinese-made Sky Saker FX500 reconnaissance UAV system adopts high speed UAV platform of low RCS (Radar Cross-Section) propelled by turbojet engine. It is equipped with GPS and INS combined navigation system, laser illuminator and can be loaded with such airborne mission equipment as multi-purpose opto¬electronic reconnaissance equipment, synthetic aperture radar and digital camera, etc. as required.

As an advanced high altitude and high speed aerial platform with stealth performance, The Sky Saker FX5OO UAV has significant advantages in efficiency and covering area of reconnaissance missions, battlefield penetrability and battlefield survivability compared with traditional ground reconnaissance vehicle and low-speed reconnaissance UAV. It is especially suitable for key targets preliminary reconnaissance & survey, target location, target illumination, artillery fire correction, damage assessment, etc ..

Meanwhile, FX500 adopts exterior contour stealth design with small RCS (Radar Cross-Section) , which can effectively reduce the detection probability by enemy radar and avoid most air-defense fire, thus featuring strong field survivability.

The Sky Saker FX500 has a payload capacity of 50 kg and endurance of 2 hours. The Sky Saker FX500 can fly at a maximum speed of 800 km/h. With high altitude penetration, it can perform penetration at an altitude up to 9,000 m.

The Sky Saker FX500 can be equipped with various mission payloads, such as GPS+INS combined navigation system, TV reconnaissance equipment, forward-looking IR reconnaissance equipment, laser illuminator, synthetic aperture radar, digital camera and information transmission equipment, etc.