For those of you spooked to death about the prospect of a rising Chinese military dominating the Pacific, consider this: They're still using dioramas to illustrate their future wars.
Yes, the 8th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai launched this week and it's featuring all things weird and wonderful in the world of aviation, from battlefield dioramas, to weather machines and origami drones.
Take this lovingly crafted battlefield diorama, first noticed by Aviation Week's Robert Wall, who's been all over the air show story. Using what appear to be detailed plans, a contractor at the show built a model U.S. aircraft carrier in Chinese waters complete with hovering F-22s. As wall notes, the presence of the two systems depicted in Chinese territory provides a glimpse of what features prominently in Chinese military thinking.
If you're not satisfied with aircraft meant for human conflict, then stop by the SL-200 exhibit for a look at China's latest platform in the war against nature. The SL-200 is a Chinese drone purportedly intended for seeding clouds. China's been a big proponent of geoengineering and has been turning to cloud seeding with rockets, airplanes and anti-aircraft guns in order to make up for rainfall shortages. But why does a weather machine need to be stealth like the SL-200 is? Why, to make it past cumulonimbus' sophisticated air defense missiles, silly. You ask too many questions.
And then there's China's origami drone, the ASN-213 from the Xi'an ASN Technology Group. It's a light five kilogram miniature drone whose 2 meter wingspan can fold back to about a third its size -- sort of like a less sophisticated version of Darpa's self-folding transformer drone.
The Zhuhai air show, held every two years in the city since 1996, isn't all about the smaller, more exotic aviation systems. This year, Zhuhai is featuring 70 commercial and military aircraft from 35 countries and a record 600 exhibitors. The presence of so many unmanned systems at the show hints at China's increasing appetite for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Of particular interest is the WJ-660, a Chinese drone which was shown in a demonstration video scouting an American aircraft carrier for China's dreaded anti-ship missiles. China also displayed its own version of America's Predator drone, the Pterodactyl I, which can carry about 100kg (or two Hellfire missiles) in addition to its Forward-Looking Infrared sensor and has an endurance of about half the Predator's 40 hour hang time.
Big ticket sales have drawn headlines at the show. Yesterday, China announced it had received 100 orders for its new C919 commercial jumbo jet, showing up western companies that traditionally dominated the Asian market and signaling China's rise as an aerospace power.
Photo: courtesy of Aviation Week
See Also:
- China Testing Ballistic Missile 'Carrier-Killer'
- Latest Launch Brings China Closer to 'GPS' of Its Own
- China's Navy Gets Its Act Together, and Gets Aggressive
- The Big 'Made in China' Military Parade
- China Looks to Undermine U.S. Power, With 'Assassin's Mace ...
- Pentagon Readies New Ship-Killers for Pacific Showdown
- Think Tank: China Beats U.S. in Simulated Taiwan Air War
