China's CH-6 breaks cover

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is developing a new medium/high-altitude, long-endurance (MALE/HALE) armed reconnaissance unmanned combat aerial system (UCAS) called the CH-6 (Cai Hong 6, or Rainbow-6), industry sources confirmed.

A commemorative model of the unannounced CH-6 Cai Hong was observed in a 19 April 2021 posting by CASC’s China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA) "wechat" account during an official visit to the provincial capital of Changsha on 16 March.

Visual analysis of the CH-6 design depicted by the model clearly shows that CAAA engineers have implemented an unconventional approach to its airframe design. Unlike the typical air vehicles of its class, which generally feature a low wing monoplane and slender cylindrical fuselage configuration with a V-tail empennage, the CH-6 adopts a visibly wider fuselage with a prominently chined forebody with a pair of sharp edges leading aft from either side of the nose along the fuselage and blending into a centre wing box. An electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) ball turret is also seen affixed to the underside of the nose.

CASC Rainbow (Cai Hong, abbreviated as CH) is a series of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) developed by the CAAA, an entity under the CASC. The CAAA is also known as the 11th Academy of CASC or 701st Research Institute.

Photo via CAAA