As the brutal Boko Haram insurgency has
entered its 7th year in Nigeria, the
relationship between the government and
China has deepened. In many ways it is a
match of needs.
The Nigerian military has a pressing need
for counter-insurgency (COIN) equipment,
such as drones, MRAP vehicles and smart
bombs (many of which the US has been
unwilling to provide the government due to
human rights concerns). China is seeking to
be a first tier exporter of such modern
military systems as well as has a massive
domestic demand for oil.
The result has been the export of Chinese
weapons, fighters, warships and now it
appears armed drones to Nigeria. On
January 25, 2015, a photo appeared on
online at Beegeagle's Blog , appearing to
show a CH-3 UCAV which crashed upside
down near Dumge village in the Mafa
District of Borno Province.
The two anti-tank missiles on the CH-3's
wings appear to be intact. Borno is the area
where much of the Boko Haram violence,
including the massacre of 2,000 civilians,
occurred in 2015. Currently, the Nigerian
military is fighting to hold onto the city of
Maiduguri against a Boko Haram onslaught,
so it appears likely that the CH-3 in
question was flying reconnaissance and fire
support missions for the Nigerians when it
crashed.
The CH-3 is a medium UAV built by the
China Aerospace Science and Technology
Corporation. This 256km per hour, 630kg
drone has a wingspan of about 8 meters,
and the combat version can carry a 100kg
payload.
Judging by photos of the CH-3 during
Chinese testing, the missiles would likely by
45kg AR-1 anti-tank missiles, which are
roughly equivalent to the American Hellfire
missile. The CH-3 is also in Pakistani
service as the "Burraq" UCAV.
Despite damage to the tricycle landing gear
and upper forward fuselage, this CH-3
appears to have crash landed due to
mechanical or control difficulties. This is in
line with most other global UAV combat
losses to date. As the CH-3 has a cruise
altitude of 5,000mft and a flight ceiling of
6,000m, it is unlikely that Boko Haram
would have the necessary heavy anti-
aircraft weaponry or training to do so.
Despite this particular CH-3's inglorious
fate, it is a good illustration that Chinese
drones are likely to be flying over Nigeria
and many other insurgencies around the
world for time to come.
Source :popular science
posted from Bloggeroid
Your Comments Are What Shows Us How You Feel About The Topic. Join us on Facebook http://facebook.com/nigeriannewsreporters and Twitter @ngnewsreporters