Several countries, including Iraq and Jordan, decided to abandon Chinese made CH-4 combat drones due to ineffectiveness and maintenance problems.
Chinese-made drones are said to be available at very competitive prices compared to their competitors produced by Western countries and Israel. Although can be purchased at competitive prices, Chinese drones are alleged to face a range of problems ranging from ineffective on the battlefield and difficult to maintain especially in desert terrain.
China’s efforts to emerge as one of the world’s leading arms exporters, including drones on par with the United States, Israel and Russia, are facing image problems, as one after another several countries decided to stop using CH-4 combat drones. That is, even if they have just spent hundreds of millions of dollars to own it.
The actions of these countries to stop the use of Chinese-made combat drones have tarnished Beijing’s image as the world’s leading arms producer, raising the question of whether the country’s defense products are reliable on the battlefield.
According to media reports, among the customers of the Chinese-made drone is Jordan which has acted to resell the Chinese-made Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) CH-4B even though the Middle Eastern country had only bought it about two years ago.
The reason is that “Jordan is not satisfied with the performance shown by the drones involved” and wants to stop its use and sell it, according to the Jordanian military to international defense news portal, Shepard Media.
Amman’s action has raised questions about the effectiveness of unmanned aircraft developed by companies from China.
The CH-4B combat drone has been developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, an entity under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
It is capable of carrying “Blue Arrow 7” missiles, TG100/INS/GPS-guided bombs, and AR-1/HJ-10 anti-tank missiles.
The Jordanian military is said to have purchased up to six CH-4 combat drones, whose design is very similar to a US-made Predator drone.
CASC is said to mimic the design of the US -made Predator drone, with several countries in the Middle East also becoming buyers of the drone after they failed to acquire the Uncle Sam -made drone as a result of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) agreement.
Shortly before that, another Middle Eastern country, Iraq, also complained that it was facing problems in maintaining Chinese-made CH-4 drones.
International media reports claimed that Iraq had bought 10 CH-4 combat drones from China but the country, one of the world’s largest oil producers, was only able to fly only one of the 10 drones due to critical maintenance problems.
In 2012, Algeria also bought several combat drones from China, but some of them were alleged to have crashed due to control problems.
The latest incident took place at Bir Raqqa Air Base, eastern Algeria last year where a CH-4 drone had crashed.
Chinese-made drones were also alleged to have crashed due to technical problems in Pakistan and Nigeria, while CH-4 drones used by the UAE were also successfully shot down by the Government of National Accord (GNA) troops of Lidya.
Beijing has sold its drones to several countries including Nigeria, Jordan, Zambia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Myanmar.
The latest is the incident in Sanaa, Yemen where, three people died after being “crashed” by a Chinese-made CH-4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) belonging to the Saudi army which was shot down by the Houthi rebels.
The country’s health authorities, quoted by the country’s news agency, said the three residents died when the wreckage of the drone that was shot down fell in a commercial area in the capital.
Three other residents were injured by the wreckage of the unmanned aircraft involved in the unfortunate incident. – DSA
According to our info total of seven CH-4B Chinese-made combat drone of the Saudi-led coalition shot down over Yemen by the Houthis’ air defenses.