BEIJING - China’s new carrier-based drone, dubbed the Sharp Sword, will appear in the October 1 National Day parade in Beijing and is expected to enter service before the end of the year.
Unnamed sources in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy told the South China Morning Post link recently that final preparations were being made for the Sharp Sword drone to be commissioned before the end of the year.
“The use of drones for aircraft carriers and warships is the trend [for navies] around the world,” a source from the PLAN said. “China is no exception.”
The Sharp Sword is one of two drones to grow out of Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute’s AVIC 601-S stealth UAV testbed. Built in conjunction with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and Shenyang Aerospace University, the program produced a slew of drone designs, one of which was the Sharp Sword. The other, the Dark Sword, was touted as the world’s first sixth generation aircraft at its unveiling last year, Sputnik reported link .