CASC CH-5 Rainbow Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV)

Specifications

Year: 2017
Status: Active, In-Service
Manufacturer(s): China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) - China
Production: 50
Capabilities: Ground Attack; Close-Air Support (CAS); Reconnaissance (RECCE); Unmanned;

Crew: 0
Length: 36.75 ft (11.2 m)
Width: 68.90 ft (21 m)
Height: 12.47 ft (3.8 m)
Weight (Empty): 4,905 lb (2,225 kg)
Weight (MTOW): 5,997 lb (2,720 kg)

Power: 1 x Turbocharged conventional engine driving a multi-bladed propeller unit at the rear of the fuselage in pusher arrangement.

Speed: 298 mph (480 kph; 259 kts)
Ceiling: 29,528 feet (9,000 m; 5.59 miles)
Range: 6,214 miles (10,000 km; 5,400 nm)

Operators: China; Saudi Arabia

The CASC CH-5 Rainbow is one of the newer additions to the indigenous Chinese Rainbow line of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The type has been developed for the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) meaning it can carry (and deliver with a level of precision) munitions of various types. The CH-5 more or less follows the American MQ-9 Reaper UCAV in both its form and function.

The aircraft exhibits a straight wing mainplane configuration and seats its conventional turbocharged piston-driven engine (of about 450 horsepower output) at the rear of the fuselage driving a multi-bladed propeller unit in "pusher" fashion. The vehicle is fully integrated into the existing CH-3 and CH-4 framework due to a shared data link infrastructure. The CH-5 has a reported mission endurance window of up to sixty hours, can fly at alttiudes nearing 30,000 feet and can carry a mission payload up to 2,205lb. The structure includes a wingspan of 68.8 feet and a Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of 6,000lb.

Planned future revisions to the series will include extended loitering times, improved operational ranges and broadened support for more potent munitions options.

Saudi industry is making plans to produce the CH-5 locally for the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Graphical image of an aircraft conventional drop bomb munition

Armament

Variable: Precision-guided drop and air-launched munitions to include bombs and missiles. Mission payload of up to 2,205lb.

Variants / Models

• CH-5 - Base Series Designation