DRONES (Remote Controlled Pilotless Aircraft)

In recent years, China has spent a huge amounts of money and engineering brainpower into drone technology, a field that is dominated by U.S. and Israel.

YILONG (Pterodactyl)

Length : 29.5 ft

Range : 2485.5 miles

Max Speed : 174 mph

Maximum Altitude : 16,404 ft

The medium sized, propeller driver drone in China's answer to the U.S. predator and MQ9 Reaper drones. Its manufacturer, Aviation Industry Corp, says the Yilong has undergone test flights and is freely to sold on the international market that can be used for both reconnaissance and strikes.

YILONG (Pterodactyl)

MQ9 Reaper Drone

XIANGLONG ( Soaring Dragon)

Length : 45.9 ft

Range : 4660 miles

Max. Speed : 466 miles/hr

Max. Altitude : 57000 ft

This is the Chinese version of the U.S. RQ-4 global hawk- an advanced , high altitude, long duration drone designed for reconnaissance. The main difference is that Xianglong has one a fraction of the Global Hawk's range.

XANGLIONG MODEL

U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk

ANJIAN (Dark Sword)

This conceptual model generated huge buzz when unveiled by Shenyang Aircraft Co. in 2006 because it represents the aspirations of the chinese to design something even western powers don't have yet - a supersonic drone capable of air-to-air combat as good as ground strikes. no one knows whether it can really be achieved and how far along in development the model is.

ANJIAN MODEL

ELSEWHERE

INDIA announced that it is developing ones that will fire missiles and fly at 30,000 feet.

PAKISTAN has said it plans to obtain armed drones from China.

ISRAEL has flown armed models.

RUSSIA has shown models of drones with weapons, but there is little evidence that they are operational.

IRAN last summer unveiled a drone that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the "ambassador of death".

Military planners worldwide see drones as relatively cheap weapons and highly effective reconnaissance tools. Hand-launched ones used by ground troops can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. Defence spending on drones has become the most dynamic sector of the world's aerospace industry, according to a report by the Teal Group in Firfox. The group's 2011 market study estimated that in the upcoming decade global spending on drones will double, reaching $94 billion.