The Shenyang BA-5 is a jet-powered, subsonic target drone developed by Nanjing Institute of Aeronautics of the People´s Republic of China. The UAV is radio-controlled by a ground station. The Shenyang BA-5 was based on the Soviet-made Lavochkin La-17C drones.
Development[]
Development of the BA-5 began in the 1960s. It was designed by General Zhao Xu, also known as the father of "Chinese UAVs". It is powered by the WP-6 engine, which was copied from the Russian Mikulin RD-9B engine, with some changes on the systems, the reason for that was that at this time the engineers had problems with building a suitable ramjet. Because the engine had to much thrust, the take-off controls were optimized for the BA-5. The Wopen-6 was primarly developed for the Shenyang J-6 (a Chinese MiG-19 Farmer). Until the rocket launching system was available, the BA-5 needed take-off assistence.
At the time it entered service with the People´s Liberation Army Air Force, it was no longer needed to act as a target drone, so a derivative of it, the CK-1A was used for reconnaissance roles and as a nuclear radiation sampling variant.
Another derivative the CK-1B was introduced in 1983 designed for low-level flight. It´s successor was the CK-1C with enhanced maneuverability and reinforcement to withstand maneuvering stresses, the UAV is able to do that due to highly improved control systems.
Specifications[]
| Wingspan | 7.5 m |
| Length | 8.435 m |
| Height | 2.955 m |
| Empty weight | 2,000 kg |
| Maximum speed | 900 km/h |
| Service ceiling | 18,000 m |
| Flight endurance | 70 minutes |