From 8-13 November, China held its premier aerospace and defense show at Zhuhai International Airport in this southern port city. Foreigners were not invited, and there was a palpable air of tension due to the possibility of a snap lockdown as China attempts to eliminate COVID-19. Nonetheless, as with previous editions of the biennial show, there were a great number of new platforms and important revelations emanating from Airshow China 2022. Of course, there was a typically bewildering array of weapons, vehicles, helicopters and aircraft as Chinese industry seeks to meet the needs of the rapidly modernizing People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and to capture lucrative export markets.
Indeed, just about all of the weapons and platforms currently used by the PLA are available for export now. China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), for example, was promoting its export-version Type 052DE destroyer. This is the first time this advanced warship has been marketed in the international arena. A Type 052DE brochure listed a length of approximately 159m and displacement of 6,800t for the destroyer. It has a cruising speed of 16 knots over a range of 4,000 nautical miles, or a maximum speed of 28 knots. CSSC listed typical sensors and weapon systems, though “the main subsystems or equipment could be selected according to the user’s demands”. Such statements, highlighting China’s accommodation of diverse customer requirements, are very important. Indeed, it was a recurrent theme at Airshow China 2022, as Beijing seeks to corner more and more of the global arms trade. Remember too that Russia is embroiled in a bitter war with Ukraine, with vast amounts of vehicles, aircraft, helicopters, small arms and munitions expended or lost.
Given the seriousness of its losses, and the impact of Western-led sanctions, Moscow’s supply chain has been severely disrupted. This means it will be increasingly difficult to supply the Russian armed forces, let alone the export markets it has long relied upon for extra cash. Indeed, it is difficult to see how Russian arms exports will not be severely dented by its violence in Ukraine. This provides China with even greater opportunities to garner export sales. It has already been doing very well in sales to markets such as Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and it is opportunistically looking to kick on even further. Note also that weapon sales are a powerful geopolitical tool to curry favor and leverage ongoing influence over dependent clients for many years to come.
China, with its powerful economic clout, can offer attractive pricing, loans and deals that will bring countries into Beijing’s inescapable orbit. One example is Thailand, whose military junta found a willing ally in China when others like the USA shunned it. Thailand has been buying up all manner of weapons, such as main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, radars, surface-to-air missiles, submarines and a landing platform dock ship (currently undergoing sea trials), from China. With a one-party state in power in China, it is very easy to coordinate foreign policy and defense sales as well. In doing so, Beijing can create toeholds and jam its feet in the door to curb or even shut out American influence.
This is important to Chairman Xi Jinping, who is leading China in a great “struggle” against the USA. These important twin geopolitical-military thrusts by China were very evident in the Zhuhai exhibition in two ways. One was the prevalence of unmanned weapon systems, and the other was a progression from selling mere weapons to marketing complete national defense solutions. Taking the first point, unmanned systems, China showed a wide range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), ground vehicles and unmanned sea vessels. These can work independently or with other manned systems, and it is the way that future warfare is heading. China is famous for its vast array of UAVs, the two most famous families being the Wing Loong and CH/Rainbow families of armed UAVs. Specifically, two important new UAVs debuted at the recent Zhuhai show.
The first was the Wing Loong 3, which has a maximum take-off weight of 6,200kg, a range of more than 10,000km and an endurance greater than 40 hours. The maker is reportedly readying for serial production of the Wing Loong 3. Measuring 12.2m long and with a 24m wingspan, it can be armed with advanced weapons like the PL-10E short-range air-to-air missile to give it an air combat capability. Additionally, it can perform reconnaissance, anti-submarine (it can drop sonobuoys and relay data) and air-to-ground attack missions. The Wing Loong 3 has nine external hardpoints that can carry up to 16 munitions. AVIC also displayed the Wing Loong 10 high-altitude long-endurance UAV. This Cloud Shadow electronic reconnaissance UAV has already received the official designation WZ-10, demonstrating that it has entered PLA Air Force (PLAAF) service. Its wingspan is approximately 10m. Other interesting designs saw the light of day in Zhuhai too. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC) displayed an improved CH-7 stealth UAV with a 26m wingspan and maximum take-off weight of 10 tonnes. Another mysterious stealthy UAV was the Cloud Shadow CS-5000T with blended-wing design. Another newcomer was a near-space hypersonic technology testbed called the MD-22. It is 10.8m long, has a 4.5m wingspan and 4-tonne weight. Its range is listed as 8,000km. Returning to the earlier second point – China’s ability to offer national defense solutions- it can be seen that Beijing is already outstripping Moscow.