WATCH: First Recorded Flight of China’s New Stealthy ‘Sky Hawk’ Drone

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2 August 2018, 02:04 GMT

The stealthy Sky Hawk is only the latest in the line of unmanned aerial vehicles under the name by maker China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), but it's a world away from the rest of the pack. It was unveiled at the 12th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, better known as the Zhuhai Airshow, in November alongside another stealthy drone of a similar flying wing design, the CH-7, which CBS called a "combat drone." It's not known what the new Sky Hawk's designation is, but the South China Morning Post said it will have both combat and reconnaissance roles.

The Sky Hawk is also much, much smaller than the CH-7, with a wingspan of merely 35 feet, compared to the CH-7's 72-foot span.

SMCP noted that last April, plane maker Airbus announced its H-145M helicopter and an Austrian Schiebel S-100 UAV had successfully made MUM-T work. The US military is also trying to harness the technology for similar purposes, but "So far, no country has perfected it as far as I am aware," Singapore-based aviation expert Kelvin Wong told the publication.

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The Global Times noted that the Sky Hawk will be able to operate from aircraft carriers that are equipped with electromagnetic catapult launch systems. No Chinese carrier yet built uses any kind of catapult system, but the US Navy's new Ford-class carriers have such a system, called EMALS. However, it's speculated that the Chinese People's Liberation Army-Navy may have such a ship in the works, due to a curious image of a Chinese carrier lacking the ski jump used by present PLA-N designs, Sputnik reported.

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12 August 2018, 17:44 GMT

Back in April, Sputnik reported that the PLA-N was testing drones alongside manned fighter aircraft and even flying manned-unmanned sorties.

"The joint operations of manned military aircraft, like fighter jets, and UAVs is the drone's future," said Shi Wen, the designer of China's Rainbow attack drones, the Global Times reported.