The aircraft for today is actually a battlefield use UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) that is currently in service of the Chinese military. The name of this UAV is Aisheng BZK-600 which was developed as an improvement on the design of its predecessor UAV named WZ-6. The aircraft was improved with addition of 4 hardpoints under its wings; 2 hardpoints for each wing.
The Aisheng BZK-600 is capable of carrying on it 4 of the Chinese built UAV employed missiles. In addition to this, the Aisheng BZK-600 is equipped with air-to-surface missile targeting screen, which is the information about this UAV made public by the Chinese government. Still it is not known whether the Aisheng BZK-600 truly is equipped with air-to-air missiles or not. And if the aircraft is equipped with such missiles, then they are only used purely for the attack mission on ground.
For our readers today, we have scavenged through many sources to get a few interesting facts about the Aisheng BZK-600, the Chinese UAV.
Origin:-
The Aisheng BZK-600 UV is the part of the large family of the Aisheng drones which are made by the Chinese company named Xian Aisheng Technology Group Company Ltd. The basic design out lay of the Aisheng BZK-600 is based on the design of its predecessor drone named WZ-6 as well as few design tips taken from the ASN-205/207. The exact date of the designing of this UAV is still not known due to it being a top secret project; it is believed that the Aisheng BZK-600 design was adopted way back in 2009. Ever since the successful creation of this aircraft, the Chinese military and especially their ground forces are continuously using the Aisheng BZK-600 in their regular exercises.
The Aisheng BZK-600 is created for the Chinese military as their plan of bringing multiple drone types into the military service for covering up numerous battlefield roles with as many of the designs that the Chinese companies can deliver in the competition of the foreign suppliers.
Design:-
The design for the Aisheng BZK-600 features a deep and tubular fuselage section that houses the following items.
- Avionics set
- Camera equipment
- Sensors
- Engine
The engine of the Aisheng BZK-600 is fitted in the rear of this UAV which is used to power the multi-blade propeller system in the conventional Pusher System. This feature allows for the nose section of the Aisheng BZK-600 to be unobstructed completely by any optics gear. On top of the drone’s forward area of the fuselage is mounted a dome that is placed on the support structure.
The mainplanes of the aircraft are mounted along the shoulders of the fuselage while at the trailing edge of them are thin booms. Each of these side booms has the vertical rudder which is connected with the horizontal plane.
As for the undercarriage of the Aisheng BZK-600, it has none; instead, it is launched in the air with the rocket-powered catapult. Normally for such launches, the rear flatbed of the Chinese Army truck is used. As for the landing of the aircraft it does so, on its 2 skids that are fitted on its belly section.
Powerplant and other specs:-
A single Aisheng BZK-600 is powered by a conventional engine, the type of which is still not known, which drives its multi-bladed propeller unit located in the rear section of the aircraft. This allows for the aircraft to be pushed forward for flight. While the actually speed limit of the aircraft I still not known, the aircraft can still remain afloat for almost 12 hours which allows it to have amazing loitering capabilities.
In other specs of the Aisheng BZK-600, it is dimensionally larger as compared to its design progenitor WZ-6 with the following dimensions.
- Length: 4.3 meters
- Height: 1.5 meters
Attack platform and Armaments:-
The Aisheng BZK-600 is designed by the Aisheng Company specifically for usage in the battlefields as the attacking platform with the primary purpose of engaging the ground enemy forces as the UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle). For this purpose, the aircraft is equipped with 2 hardpoints under each of its wings. These hardpoints are used to allow the aircraft to carry 4 of the air-to-surface missiles to attack the ground targets from a safe range.
As for the Aisheng BZK-600’s secondary usage, the aircraft is also used as a reconnaissance drone.
Primary operator and the total number of units produced:-
The only operator of the Aisheng BZK-600 is the Chinese military and its several branches. While the exact number of these drones built is hard to name here, there is speculation that nearly 75 of these Aisheng BZK-600 drones have been produced by the Aisheng Company and they are also in service with the military.
Known variant:-
While the base model of the Aisheng BZK-600 is simply designated as BZK-006 there is one known variant of this UAV which is designated as Aisheng BZK-600A. As for the differences between these two drones and the primary use of the Aisheng BZK-600A is still unknown at the moment.
Related Content
Interesting facts about the CASA/IPTN CN-235; the Military Transport Airbus
Amazing facts about the Fairey Gannet; The Anti-Submarine Aircraft
