The Iraqis tested their first drone in battle against the Islamic State in the province of Anbar. There is only a little curiosity: the drone is a CH-4B 'Rainbow' of Chinese production.
Iraq, a country rich in oil thanks to oil, represents an attractive market for all the military industries of the world, without exception. United States, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, France, Italy, just to mention a few countries: the petrodollar knows no political flag, alignment or crisis. It was the Iraqi Defense Minister himself, Khaled al-Obeidi, who announced to the world the use of Chinese UAV, which took place on October 10th. To date, the real amount of contracts signed between Baghdad and Beijing is unknown, but the Chinese should have sold, in an unknown number, both the combat version (CH-4B) and the reconnaissance version (CH-4A) with a estimated autonomy in 40 flight hours.
The presence of Chinese UAVs in Iraq (without the electro-optical sensor, so they should all be equipped with GPS) was leaked last March, when an Iraqi blog (close to the government) released some images of at least three disguised CH-4 .
The 4 version of the Cai Hong drone, developed from theAerospace science and technology company of China, has been in service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) since August of the 2014 The CH-4 version is the largest of the 'Rainbow' series (the CH-5 is in the testing phase with the first flight performed on the last August). Externally identical to the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, except for the ventral fin below the absent tail in the CH-4, it was built in two variants: 4A and 4B.
The CH-4A is a reconnaissance drone with a range of 3500 / 4000 km. The attack and reconnaissance version, on the other hand, can carry a payload of 330 kg. It is considered capable of launching air-to-ground missiles from 5.000 meters, thus beyond the effective range of most anti-aircraft guns.
Iraqi CH-4
By analyzing the images, the drones should be armed with AR-1 laser-guided missiles and FT-9 guided bombs. The AR-1, developed by the HJ-10, is a missile specifically designed to be transported by drones. With a weight of 45 kg (tested by ten kg), the missile reaches a maximum Mach 1.1 speed. To date, only one type of inertial / GPS type driving has been confirmed.
The missile is believed to penetrate a thousand-millimeter armor. Finally, the small FT-9 bomb was specifically designed for Chinese drones. GPS / INS guide confirmed.
