Report: China Ramping Up Armed, Unarmed Drone Development

China has deployed unarmed reconnaissance and ocean surveillance drones in Northeast Asia near Japan, the Senkaku islands and along China’s southern coast, the Washington Times reports.

Citing U.S. intelligence officials, Bill Gertz writes China could also send drones to the South China Sea.

One drone, the China’s CH-4 drone, appears to be a copy of the General Atomics-made Predator and is armed with missiles similar to the Hellfires launched from the Predator, according to Gertz.
Other intelligence reports are indicating that China is also developing an unmanned combat aerial vehicle that is intended to be stealth.

Gertz reports China’s drone to be identical to Northrop Grumman‘s X-47B drone, which was recently tested on a U.S. aircraft carrier, and could be able to reach Guam.