Fresh photos offer clearest view yet of China’s ‘WZ-X’ spy drone

Fresh clues are emerging about a new type of Chinese drone being developed as a long-range intelligence and surveillance platform intended to operate deep inside contested airspace.

New photographs circulated on Chinese internet forums earlier this month that appear to show the massive drone in the air, offering much clearer views of its wing shape than earlier images. The original source of the photos and exactly where they were taken have not been independently verified.

Andreas Rupprecht, a specialist on Chinese military aviation, said the photographs showed the clearest view yet of the aircraft’s serrated trailing edge – a sawtooth-like shape along the rear of the wing characteristic of stealth design. He added that the aircraft appeared to have been flown in daylight, suggesting such flights might have reached a degree of normality.

Rupprecht said he was “100 per cent certain” the photographs showed what military aviation watchers have dubbed the “WZ-X”, citing its dimensions, proportions and other visible details. Beijing has not publicly confirmed the aircraft’s designation, purpose or specifications.

The aircraft was first publicly identified by US defence website TWZ in satellite imagery from May last year showing the Chinese air force’s Malan test facility in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Its estimated wingspan of around 52 metres (170 feet) is comparable to that of a US B-2 stealth bomber.

Rupprecht said the aircraft was designed as an intercontinental high-altitude, long-endurance (Hale) intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) drone – a platform intended to operate deep inside defended airspace and function as an advanced communications relay node.