China Divine Eagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which Shenyang Claims is far cheaper than its Israeli and American analogs. It looks like an exact Clone of the American MQ-1 Predator UAV
IDN: By using the single deck bus in the background (probably 3.2 meters tall, like most buses of its type) as a very crude visual yardstick, a very rough comparison suggests that the Divine Eagle is about 6 meters tall, and 15 meters long (since most high altitude large UAVs have a wingspan to body length ratio of 2.5:1 to 3:1, the wingspan of the Divine Eagle is likely its be 35 to 45 meters across). With a maximum take off weight of at least 15 tons, the Divine Eagle is the world's largest UAV, edging out the RQ-4 Global Hawk.
Shen Diao, China's new unmanned aerial vehicle also known as the Divine Eagle, could be used to track the location of US aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific and guide DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles to their target, according to overseas Chinese news outlet Duowei News.
Shenyang Aircraft Corp and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group are currently developing two larger versions of unmanned aerial vehicles with sizes comparable to the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk of the United States. The drones' primary utility will be carrying out reconnaissance missions in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Shen Diao and the Sky Wing III, designed respectively by Shenyang Aircraft Corp and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, are both rumored to be capable of tracking large US warships in waters extending from Alaska to the Philippines.
With the assistance of Sky Wing III and Shen Diao, the Second Artillery Corps, the PLA's strategic missile force, will be capable of launching increasingly precise attacks against US warships with its DF-21D missile. The Shen Diao can additionally serve as an early warning aircraft for the PLA Air Force, as it is equipped with a larger radar than the Sky Wing III.
China is currently unable to produce manned early warning aircraft in large numbers as it has not come close to the production capacity for passenger aircraft of the United States. It would neither be advisable to redesign its strategic bomber, the H-6, into a early warning aircraft. This leaves the Shen Diao as China's best fit for the role.
The drones will not enter service until 2020 at the earliest, since their manufacturers have only designed a single prototype for each of the unmanned aerial vehicles, the report said.