(Photo : CASC) China's CH-4 aerial drone armed with missiles and smart bombs is a popular export.


The Iraqi Army has proudly posted video after video on YouTube showing its small fleet of CH-4B aerial drones made in China destroying vehicles, fighters and buildings belonging to the murderous Islamic terrorists called ISIS.



Iraq is the leading combat operator of these drones armed with Chinese-made, precision strike AR-1 missiles and FT-5 precision guided bombs. A CH-4B (Cai Hong-4B) can mount up to six 45 kg AR-1 semi-active laser-guided missiles.



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The missile is 1.45 m in length and has an effective range of 8 km. It is very accurate, with a CEP (circular error probability) of just 1.5 meters. It can penetrate 1,000 mm of armor and targets buried 1,200 mm into the ground.



The 100 kg FT-5 is a small diameter bomb that can lock onto targets using GPS or by tracking reflections from a laser beam.



Iraq first used its CH-4B in combat in October 2015 and since then has deployed the drone to deadly effect as can be seen in numerous YouTube videos, one of which you can view here.



The Iraqi Ministry of Defense said the first drone strike hit an ISIS target in Al-Anbar province. It also released a video showing Defense Minister Khalid al-Obaidi inspecting one of the new Chinese-made drones at Kut Air Base.



CH-4 is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle system designed and built by China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (also known as the 11th Academy) of the China Aerospace Science & Technology Corporation (CASC) consortium.



It is the largest member of the Cai Hong (Rainbow) class and looks remarkably similar to the U.S. MQ-9 Predator UAV built by General Atomics. Some American experts believe the striking resemblance is another example of Chinese spying put to use in the real world.



The reason for the CH-4s popularity in the Middle East and Africa is its price: a CH-4 costs only $1 million compared to the price tag of $30 million for the MQ-9 Predator. Another reason is the no questions asked policy of CASC in contrast to the Americans who strictly limit the sale of the Predator to countries with acceptable humans rights records.



In addition to China, the Cai Hong-class in its different models has been sold to Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Nigeria.



The CH-4 has a range of about 3,500km and can loiter over a target for up to 40 hours.




TagsCH-4B, Iraq, ISIS, AR-1, FT-5