China’s GJ-2 Spy Drone Circles Taiwan – Rivals US Reaper

By Kris Osborn, President, Warrior

The People’s Liberation Army – Air Force has been flying its previously unseen GJ-2 armed reconnaissance drone near Taiwan, an emerging platform which appears to resemble the well-known US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper. 

In recent months, the new GJ-2 armed reconnaissance drone flew above waters close to the Taiwan-administered Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea to the southwest of Taiwan island, according to a map showing flight paths of the PLA aircraft cited in a Chinese government-backed Global Times newspaper. 

It not particularly surprising that the Chinese paper would itself mention that the CJ-2 resembles the US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper, as the PLA’s apparent or visible efforts to “copycat” US platforms is well recognized by US observes and similarities are often cited by Chinese-backed newspapers as well. 

The Chinese paper explains that the new GJ-2, which was among of PLA aircraft transiting parts of the South China Sea and Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, is a new variant of its existing armed Wing Loong-2.