The South China Morning Post describes the US MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as having a traditional wing design. The US European Command (EUCOM) accused the Russian Air Force Su-27 fighter jet of colliding with the wing of the MQ-9, causing it to crash into the Black Sea.
A US MQ-9 drone collided with a Russian Air Force Su-27 fighter jet and crashed into the Black Sea in March. Photo: TNS
Learning from the above incident, Professor Wang Zhengping of the Department of Aeronautics at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an (China) gave advice to Beijing to improve the next generation of unmanned aircraft.
Sharing with domestic military magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology , expert Wang Zhengping said that China needs to focus on designing "flying wings" for the next generation of drones.
With this design, the aircraft would not have separate fuselage and tail sections – instead, the wings and fuselage would be combined into one structure.
Chinese experts claim that with the new "flying wing" design, the aircraft will be "more stealthy and maneuverable", helping to reduce the risk of collision to avoid the risk of accidents.
The FL-2 stealth transport drone (developed by Zhongtian Yinkong Technology and launched in 2019) or China's H-20 bomber – are said to be designed in this direction.
Although the "flying wing" design has many advantages, experts say it also has limitations such as being more difficult for pilots to operate because it has no tail.
Also in an interview with a Chinese military magazine, Professor Wang said the MQ-9 crash into the Black Sea was "intentional" by the US to avoid Russia collecting sensitive information.
The incident occurred when the US sent MQ-9 spy drones to monitor the Black Sea - near the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia.
At that time, the US blamed the Russian Air Force for causing the MQ-9 to crash, but the Ministry of Defense later denied the US accusation. According to Moscow, the MQ-9 Reaper crashed because the Washington pilot lost control. Russia also affirmed that its planes did not use weapons and did not come into contact with the US drone.
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