Chinese state-owned television has released video footage showing what appears to be the X-Chimera vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) being used by a brigade of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Airborne Corps: an indication that the twin-tailboom UAV is either being tested or is already in service with the corps.
A screengrab from CCTV footage released on 27 September showing what appears to the X-Chimera VTOL UAV during an exercise with a brigade of the PLAAF Airborne Corps. (CCTV)
Weihutang, a programme on military affairs from state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), released footage on 27 September showing the platform, which is made by Chengdu-based company Aossci, taking part in a large-scale exercise that CCTV said took place recently in the Chinese autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.
The UAV was shown with an electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) sensor turret fitted onto its underbelly.
No further details were provided about the platform, which features a total of four rotors – two on top of each boom – to enable vertical take-offs and landings, as well as a pusher propeller to the rear of the fuselage pod.
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