China’s Modernized CH-4 Drone with Upgraded Engine Makes Maiden Flight

An upgraded version of the Chinese CH-4 drone fitted with new domestic heavy-fuel engine, recently completed its maiden flight.

The domestic engine enables the updated version of the CH-4 drone to fly at higher altitudes for longer endurance and with heavier loads, CH UAV company told the Global Times on Wednesday.

This drone has cleared scientific research tests as part of which it successfully carried out autonomous takeoff and landing, waypoint flight, full load transportation and tests under maximum flight altitudes and endurance.

“The heavy-fuel engine used in the upgraded CH-4 drone was completely domestically made from development to production,” said Shi Wen, chief engineer of the CH series drone.

The engine offers low fuel consumption, long flight endurance and a wide range of application environments.

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"With the new heavy-fuel aviation engine, the drone can remain in the sky for significantly longer, fly further, and reach higher cruise altitudes and ceilings. Its payload capacity has also increased by 30-50%,” Shi said.

The CH-4 armed reconnaissance drone can also serve civilian purposes like high-resolution land observation, mapping, communications, aerial object detection, and environmental monitoring and forest fire prevention.

In addition to the CH-4, the series also includes the more capable CH-5, the larger CH-6, the stealth CH-7 and the tilt-rotor CH-10.