Last week, China held its most-anticipated annual Zhuhai Airshow, known to be the largest airshow and aerospace trade expo in China since the mid-1990s. Of course, the airshow is always something to look forward to as it is the only time it showcases its latest naval and aerospace technologies, but what makes this year’s expo quite an exhibition is the downpour of impressive and promising unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—with the MD-22 particularly standing out.

China showcased its newest hypersonic UAV for the first time, with many speculating that the platform is set to become a testbed platform for the country’s future hypersonic technology. Co-developed by the CAS Institute of Mechanics and the Guangdong Aerodynamic Research Academy (GARA), the MD-22 is a wide-range aircraft that claims to travel at a near-space hypersonic speed of up to Mach 7.

MD22 Photo
(Image source: Twitter)

Below is the description of a promising hypersonic UAV, as translated by EurAsian Times:

“MD-22 wide-area aircraft, about 10.8 meters long, 4.5 meters wide, take-off weight of about 4000 kg, and a maximum load coefficient of about 15 percent. It is a reusable high-sonic technology test platform for adjacent space. It is mainly used for a series of technical verification and in-situ scientific practice of proximity-spaced shuttle aircraft. Test. It can be compatible with different power, suitable for Mach number 0-7, can use autonomous take-off or rocket-assisted launch mode, with a maximum range of 8000 km, and 6 g stable disk overload under medium and high-speed conditions. The ability of mobile flight.”