China to sell 48 armed drones to Pakistan

Wing Loong II is high-end multi-role unmanned system

Beijing, Oct. 9: China will sell 48 high-end armed drones to its “allweather ally” Pakistan in what a military observer said will be the largest deal of its kind, official media here reported on Tuesday.

The cost of the major defence deal was not revealed.

Wing Loong II is a highend reconnaissance, strike and multi-role endurance unmanned aerial system, capable of being fitted with air-tosurface weapons.

It is roughly equivalent to the American MQ-9 Reaper drone.

The drones will also be jointly manufactured by China and Pakistan, state-run Global Times reported. Last year, China reportedly sold to countries like the UAE and Egypt the Wing Loong II at an estimated $ 1 million per unit, reports said.China, an “all-weather ally” of Islamabad, is the largest supplier of weapon system to the Pakistan Army. Both the countries also jointly manufacture JF-Thunder a single engine multi-role combat aircraft. The announcement by China to permit the sale of high-end military drones comes in the immediate backdrop of India's move to acquire S400 sophisticated missile defence systems from Russia. The deal was clinched during last week's visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to New Delhi.

The Trump administration has agreed to sell sell 22 Sea Guardian drones to India. The country is reported to have received 10 advanced Heron drones from Israel as well.

The deal for the acquisition of the drones manufactured by Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Company was announced by Pakistan Air Force's Sherdils Aerobatic Team on its official Facebook account on Sunday, the

Global Times report said without giving details about when the deal was struck or when the drones would be delivered. The air force academy aerobatics team announced that in the future, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China's Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Company will jointly manufacture the drones, the report said.

Wing Loong II drone made its maiden flight in February last year, an earlier report by the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Wing Loong II is roughly equivalent to the American MQ-9 Reaper drone.China is the largest supplier of weapon system to the Pakistan Army.Wing Loong II drone made its maiden flight in February last year, an earlier report by the state-run Xinhua news agency said.Announcement by China to permit sale of drones comes in the immediate backdrop of India's move to acquire S-400 missile systems from Russia.