China’s Armed Stealthy GJ-11 Sharp Sword Drone Operates Like “Loyal Wingman” Attack

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Several years ago, the People’s Liberation Army revealed a look at the internal weapons bay on its GJ-11 stealthy attack drone, an armed unmanned platform which first emerged at a Chinese parade in 2019. The drone has likely progressed much since this time and may have been configured with new weapons or networked for manned-unmanned teaming and a “loyal wingman” type of configuration. The GJ-11 a weapon possibly intended to rival or exceed the U.S. stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel drone or armed Reaper. An interesting essay from the South China Morning Post indicates that the GJ-11 is preparing to operate as a stealthy attack drone operating as a “loyal wingman” to manned fighters.

Initial images of the Chinese drone, however, while appearing as a possible design “rip-off” of several U.S. platforms, only showed the top of the aircraft in the available photograph. The areas under the wings were not previously visible, a scenario which led many to speculate about whether the drone had an internal weapons bay.

GJ-11 Stealthy Attack Drone Weapons Bay

The answer to that question appears to be yes, according to a Chinese newspaper report which states that China is now offering a public look at the drones internal weapons bay underneath the aircraft.

“China’s GJ-11 stealth armed reconnaissance drone will open its weapons bays for the first time and display its capability to carry a large amount of precision weapons at the Airshow China 2021,” the Chinese government backed Global Times newspaper reports as far back as several years ago. The GJ-11 has also been on display at air shows alongside the well-known Chinese J-20 and Y-20 large cargo plane.

Made by a Chinese company called AVIC, the GJ-11 is reported by the Global Times as having two weapons bays between the drone’s landing gear. Each bay, the paper says, has four bomb locations which appear like guided precision air-to-ground bombs.

A stealthy armed drone such as this, able to carry and fire glide-bombs, or precision-strike air-to-ground missiles may not yet have an operational U.S. equivalent despite appearing to be modeled after several U.S. stealthy aircraft designs. 

The new Chinese Gongi-11 might bring a rare blend of attributes not likely to be matched by other countries. Many countries naturally have armed stealth fighters, yet it is clear to say that armed stealth drones have not fully emerged.