The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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China Demands More Targets
by James Dunnigan
January 27, 2009
China is increasing
its production, and use, of target drones. The first such drone China used was
the CK-1, which was a reverse engineered Russian La-17C. A 1950s design, the
Chinese didn't get it working reliably until the 1970s. You could usually only
use the CK-1 once, so not many were built. China could not afford the expense,
even though they equipped the CK-1 to land, via a controlled crash, or descend
via parachute. After repairs, it could be used again, sometimes. An improved
model, the CK-2, was developed in the early 1990s, but it has rarely been shown
in public. The CK-2 is supersonic and apparently used to test anti-aircraft
missiles (air and ground launched.)
Older J-7 (MiG-21 clone) and J-5
(Mig-17) are often converted into drones, to test missiles. This is becoming
more common as the J-7 is phased out of service. There is also the TJ-1, which
is basically a cruise missile, and is used to test radars and missiles built to
detect and destroy cruise missiles. The navy uses the propeller driven ASN-5
and ASN-7 drones for anti-aircraft gunnery practice.
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