CH-4B Rainbow

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) announced on 16 March that its president and the chairman of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) had signed a partnership agreement covering the manufacture of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The KACST did not provide further details of the agreement, which was one […]

In Israel, where combat-capable unmanned systems constitute a significant share of exports and form the backbone of counter-terror operations, a new Obama administration’s push for international guidelines governing strike drones is being viewed with skepticism, if not outright alarm. As much as the Israeli government wants to support its closest ally, officials and experts say […]

Nine fighters from a Shi’ite Muslim militia battling Islamic State were killed in northern Iraq when an Iraqi army aircraft fired at them in error, security and militia sources said on Sunday. The fighters were responding to an Islamic State attack west of Camp Speicher, a former U.S. base outside the city of Tikrit, said […]

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have both acquired Chinese-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to meet urgent operational requirements arising from their military intervention in Yemen, it was revealed during a panel discussion held by the Atlantic Council think tank on 8 December. “The drones the UAE is using in Yemen are Chinese […]

After more than a decade of fighting in Iraq, the names of the American-made drones striking targets there have become familiar: Predator, Reaper, Sentinel. But this month, a new model entered the fray: the Chinese-made Caihong-4. According to footage released by the Iraqi armed forces, soldiers used the Chinese drone on Dec. 6 to destroy […]

China will once again make its presence known at the Dubai Airshow as part of its ongoing effort to find a beachhead in the potentially lucrative, but so far elusive, gulf defense market. China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corp. (CATIC) will feature both a stand (820) and chalet (A41/42) at the show. Controlled by […]

Iraq appears to have joined the small but growing group of countries operating armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – or drones. Video released by Iraq’s military shows a fully armed Chinese-supplied CH-4 drone being inspected on the tarmac. Poor-quality photos suggesting that the Chinese UAV may have been sold to Iraq first emerged in March. […]