China deploys advanced WZ-7 drone for first time near Scarborough Shoal

Beijing deployed its advanced WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone in the South China Sea for the first time during drills near the disputed Scarborough Shoal on Sunday.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command announced on Sunday that it had conducted joint air and naval exercises in the waters and airspace around the shoal earlier in the day.

In recent years, Scarborough Shoal – known as Huangyan Island in China and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines – has been a major flashpoint between the two countries, which both claim ownership of the coral atoll.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday that the WZ-7 long-range reconnaissance drone took part in the exercises and operated alongside various types of fighter aircraft taking off from multiple airfields.

It marked the first official confirmation of the deployment of the WZ-7, which is also called the Xianglong or “Soaring Dragon”, in a real-time operation.

“The WZ-7 provides imagery intelligence and can be used for both strategic and tactical reconnaissance. Its main missions include border reconnaissance, patrols over territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, and surveillance of key areas,” CCTV said.

The WZ-7 made its first public appearance at the Zhuhai air show in 2021. Japan’s defence ministry said in January 2023 that a WZ-7 had flown through the Miyako Strait southwest of Okinawa.

According to specifications released by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the drone’s designer, the WZ-7 is 14 metres (46 feet) long, 3.9 metres high and has a wingspan of 22.8 metres.

It has a cruising altitude of more than 18,000 metres, a mission range of more than 4,500km (2,796 miles) and can fly for more than 6.5 hours.

CCTV also described the WZ-7 as “the world’s second unmanned aircraft capable of freely crossing civilian air routes”.

Civilian airliners typically cruise between 8,000 and 12,000 metres, a height at which most drones cannot operate, according to Fu Qianshao, a military analyst and former People’s Liberation Army Air Force officer.

The first drone widely regarded as being able to conduct missions at this height is the United States’ RQ-4 Global Hawk, a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned reconnaissance aircraft that was introduced in 2001.

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Fu said the WZ-7’s ability to loiter at high altitude for extended periods allowed it to provide real-time battlefield situational awareness over large stretches of sea.

“The WZ-7 does not need to be deployed at bases in the South China Sea. It has long endurance and a high flight speed, so it can be deployed directly from land-based airfields along China’s coast and remain on station for extended periods,” Fu said.

Footage released by CCTV on Sunday showed a WZ-7 taking off from a military base in southern China before heading towards the South China Sea.

Beijing has repeatedly showcased its latest unmanned equipment in the area around Scarborough Shoal.

Fu said he believed the waters around the shoal were well suited to be a testing ground for China’s latest gear.

“The recovery of some shipborne fixed-wing drones is subject to certain limitations in the South China Sea, while high-altitude, long-endurance drones are well suited to operating there,” Fu said.

“There are large areas of international waters in the South China Sea, and it is also a busy transport route. Beijing needs to monitor foreign ships and aircraft while also providing support for the safe navigation of its own vessels. Such complex mission conditions are suitable for new equipment to explore and test its capabilities.”

Zhang Chi, a professor at the PLA National Defence University, told CCTV on Sunday that the exercises were primarily aimed at the Philippines.

Scarborough Shoal has been under Chinese control since 2012.

To reinforce its sovereignty claim, China in 2024 announced baselines for the territorial waters surrounding the shoal.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the baseline serves as the starting line along the coast from which a nation measures the extent of its territorial sea, exclusive economic zones and other maritime zones.

The Philippines has periodically sent ships and aircraft into the area in moves intended to challenge China’s claim. In July this year, Manila submitted a chart of its baselines around the shoal to the United Nations.