Posted on 09/15/2023 5:06:14 AM PDT by FarCenter
China has unveiled its version of Iran’s Shahed suicide drone, known as the Sunflower-200, raising speculation that Beijing may soon offer the weapon to nations critical to its geostrategic interests and ambitions.
Whether China would sell the Sunflower-200 to Russia and risk possible Western sanctions, however, is an open but important question as the conflict in Ukraine is increasingly characterized by drone warfare.
This month, Forbes reported on a new video revealing the Chinese-made kamikaze drone’s test launch. The drone is believed to be a copy of the Iranian Shahed-136 and was seen in pictures from Russia’s ARMY-2023 defense exhibition in Moscow in August.
The Forbes report says the Sunflower-200 is in an advanced stage of development and may be just months away from full-scale production.
China Defense, a website providing commercial information on China’s weapons systems for international clients, touts the Sunflower-200 as a low-cost weapon designed to engage long-range stationary targets.
The website says the drone has a 3.2-meter length, 2.5-meter wingspan and a flight speed of 160-220 kilometers per hour. The Sunflower-200 has a maximum take-off weight of 175 kilograms, a combat payload of 40 kilograms and can fly up to 2000 kilometers to engage targets, according to China Defense.
According to Forbes, 2,000 Shahed drones have been deployed in Russia, with the originals imported from Iran and more recent reports suggesting Russia is now producing them domestically under license.
In June 2023, Asia Times reported on Russia and Iran’s plans to build a Shahed-136 factory in the Yelabuga region east of Moscow, with production scheduled to start in 2024 and a projected output of 6,000 drones over the next few years to support Russia’s Ukraine war effort. Iranian defense companies are also known to have supplied components to Russian factories for drone-building.
(Excerpt) Read more at asiatimes.com ...
Mexico.??
40 Kg payload is a lot of fentanyl...
“The drone has a 3.2-meter length, 2.5-meter wingspan and a flight speed of 160-220 kilometers per hour. The Sunflower-200 has a maximum take-off weight of 175 kilograms, a combat payload of 40 kilograms and can fly up to 2000 kilometers to engage targets.”
The engine is probably similar to the Limbach L550E.
>>The L550E is an air-cooled horizontally-opposed four-cylinder two-stroke petrol engine developing 37 kW (50 hp) at 7500 rpm which can drive a propeller either directly or geared. It employs a single magneto ignition, four carburettors, and is lubricated by oil mixture lubrication with a fuel to oil ratio of 25:1 for mineral oil or 50:1 for synthetic oil.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbach_L550E
Any country that can make chain saws, lawn care equipment, etc., can make these.
Irony (posted at bottom of article):
Iran’s kamikaze drones no game-changer in Ukraine
Russia’s use of Iran’s Shahed drones has made headlines but the low-grade and limited weapon is proving to be an easy kill
https://asiatimes.com/2022/10/irans-kamikaze-drones-no-game-changer-in-ukraine/
Just make sure them drones don't target our LBGQTXYZ people! That's a really, really big red line. OMG!
Drone warfare is the future…and the future is here.
I hope the U.S. is on this.
>>Iran’s kamikaze drones no game-changer in Ukraine
At perhaps $20K each, these are useful in consuming the opponent’s inventory of expensive antiaircraft missiles.
Looks like a flat 4-cylinder motor like the old VW bug had.
GPS guidance? Starlink?
>>Drone warfare is the future…and the future is here.
Chinese manufacturing and parts sourcing should bring the costs way down to a few thousand dollars. Volumes could go way up into the million.
These are easier to build than a small car.
Commies can’t even make their own drone?
“The drone is believed to be a copy of the Iranian Shahed-136”
LOSERS!
China is already sanctioned, , isn’t it?
Isn’t the Chinese DefMin personally sanctioned?
If it is an exact copy, China can deny having made it.
Trust me: I’m not dismissing the tactical effectiveness of these weapons, and I’m sure at least ‘some’ in the Pentagon are paying close attention.
It was just ironic to get to the bottom of the OP article and see the linked article in my comment.
Why call it a drone? What’s new? Isn’t it just a short range, slow, guided weapon like’s been around for years? Maybe not the “slow”.
Is that hole where the pilot sits? /sarc
What is it with the orientals and the flowers? The Japanese had the Ohka cherry blossom. And now it’s sunflowers. Weird weird weird. Let me guess, American forces are busy working on the pansy. But in all seriousness, the kamikaze‘s hurt the US fleet badly in World War II. They downplayed it during the war, but they were an extremely serious menace as we got closer to Japan. What we have today is kamikaze planes without the tragedy of forcing pilots to do it. Kamikaze is pretty nuts, but that’s the world we live in.
I think that the nomenclature is all screwed up. These are very similar to a cruise missile, in that they are subsonic autonomous aircraft intended to strike a target.
Of course, a cruise missile really isn’t. I would think of missiles as either rocket propelled or shot out of a tube.
I suppose drones could be considered to be cruise missiles which can be controlled remotely during their flight.
Furthermore, drones may loiter, make observations, fire missiles, drop bombs, return to base, and do essentially all the functions of a manned aircraft.
How embarrassing for nuclear, space-flight, mighty Russia to have to license low-tech from 7th century savages!
Hahahahaha.
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