On the 11th, the "Nine Heavens" unmanned aerial general-purpose platform successfully completed its maiden flight in Shaanxi. As a large-scale general-purpose unmanned aerial vehicle platform independently developed by my country and with world-leading performance, "Nine Heavens" can serve as an "airborne mothership" to command swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles, and can also carry heavy weapons for precision strikes, truly possessing the deterrent power to "descend from the sky".

The Jiutian UAV made its debut at the Zhuhai Airshow last year. Following its successful maiden flight, detailed technical parameters of the Jiutian UAV were also revealed for the first time. So, just how powerful is the Jiutian?

Core Technical Specifications Revealed

This UAV can carry a payload of up to 6 tons and has eight hardpoints, capable of carrying guided bombs, air-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, and kamikaze drones—a type of loitering drone that typically carries explosives, loitering near targets and waiting to strike them.

Its wingspan reaches 25 meters, and its maximum takeoff weight can reach 16 tons. This size reminds many of the B-17 bomber from World War I. However, the Jiutian UAV not only rivals traditional bombers in weight, but its maximum payload capacity is also a staggering 6 tons, far exceeding the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV (with a maximum payload of only 1.8 tons), making it a true "juggernaut" among UAVs.

This enormous payload capacity means that "Jiutian" can carry a variety of advanced weapon systems, including laser-guided bombs and anti-ship missiles, enabling it to perform diverse missions in complex battlefield environments. Even more impressive is its ability to carry a so-called "heterogeneous hive mission pod," a design that allows it to release hundreds of small drones in the air, forming a massive "swarm" combat system.

As is well known, a significant characteristic of modern warfare is the high concentration of information and firepower. Against this backdrop, swarm warfare has emerged as a new mode of combat. The design concept of "Jiutian" perfectly aligns with this trend; it can not only independently complete strike missions but also achieve saturation attacks on enemy air defense systems through swarm warfare.

Imagine if ten "Jiutian" drones were deployed in formation, each carrying 100 small drones. In just 30 minutes, they could deliver over a thousand drones to a target area! Such tactics could overwhelm enemy air defense systems, inflicting heavy damage.

Another area of interest is the application of "Jiutian" drones in information technology and intelligence. With the continuous development of military technology, information warfare has become the mainstream for militaries worldwide. The high-resolution optoelectronic reconnaissance equipment and synthetic aperture radar equipped on "Jiutian" will give it a significant advantage in intelligence gathering.

Furthermore, the design concept of "general-purpose platform + modular mission payload" allows "Jiutian" to achieve full-domain adaptability for both military and civilian use.

In this regard, the "Jiutian" UAV can achieve long-term, long-range, continuous reconnaissance over vast battlefield areas, accurately acquiring key intelligence such as enemy troop deployments and equipment configurations, providing real-time and reliable support for operational decision-making. Once combined with other combat forces for coordinated operations, its overall combat effectiveness will be significantly enhanced.

The maiden flight of the "Jiutian" is not only a significant breakthrough for China in the field of large UAVs, but also a strengthening of the entire unmanned combat platform system. With the addition of the "Jiutian," a positive technological complementarity and operational synergy has been formed with existing reconnaissance and strike UAVs, unmanned helicopters, and other combat platforms. This is not merely an upgrade of a single weapon system, but a systemic improvement in overall combat capability.

The technological gap is already evident.

Faced with the increasingly severe international situation, UAVs like the "Jiutian," with their all-domain deployment and all-weather operation capabilities, will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in future military operations. Especially in tense areas such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, possessing such powerful strategic reconnaissance and strike capabilities will have a profound impact on maintaining national security and regional stability.

Although the maiden flight of the "Jiutian" UAV received high attention from the United States. For example, the US MQ-9 Reaper drone is the most famous Western reconnaissance and strike drone, but its maximum takeoff weight is only 4.76 tons, its payload capacity is 1.7 tons, and its range is only 1850 kilometers—less than a third of the "Nine-Tian's" capabilities. Another drone, the XQ-58A Valkyrie, while featuring stealth design, has a payload of only 0.5 tons, and its swarm carrying capacity is far inferior to the "Nine-Tian's."

However, not all foreign media outlets are praising it. For instance, the Ukrainian newspaper *Defense Express* directly poured cold water on the idea: such a large drone carrier is completely impractical in actual combat. On the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, targets larger than 5 cubic meters in size have an average survival time of less than 50 minutes. The "Nine-Tian's" survivability makes it a "sitting duck" in the face of modern air defense systems!

However, the Ukrainian analysis may have overlooked a crucial point: modern warfare is system-of-systems combat, not individual battles.

In reality, the initial design intent of the "Jiutian" drone was likely not to operate alone behind enemy lines. Its purpose was to combine with other advanced combat forces to form an overall advantage. To counter massive swarms of drones, a single air defense system is clearly insufficient. For example, India's recent rush to purchase 300 S-400 air defense missiles stems from its own air defense systems' inability to withstand the pressure from low-cost, low-stealth drones.

Once PLA aircraft achieve air superiority, the "Jiutian" drone acts as a "high-altitude delivery station" to harvest swarms of drones—this constitutes the complete combat chain. For any country attempting to challenge the "Jiutian," coordinating its air defense system with firepower will be a significant test. 

The successful maiden flight of the "Jiutian" drone not only represents a major breakthrough for China in the aerospace field but also marks a pioneer in leading the future revolution in unmanned warfare. With its massive payload capacity, flexible operational modes, and precise reconnaissance technology, the "Jiutian" will become a shining star on the future battlefield.

Through modular payload customization, the "Jiutian" UAV can be widely adapted to diverse civilian scenarios, including heavy material transportation and precision logistics delivery in remote mountainous areas and islands, rapid communication restoration and disaster relief equipment delivery in emergency rescue operations, and can also provide services such as geographic surveying, disaster assessment, and mineral exploration, covering multiple sectors of the national economy such as cultural relic surveying, maritime patrol and law enforcement, and forest fire fighting.

The successful maiden flight of the "Jiutian" UAV marks a new breakthrough in my country's large-scale UAV technology. Its large-scale application will accelerate the seamless integration and positive interaction between the industrial chain and the innovation chain, injecting new momentum into the development of new productivity in the low-altitude economy and continuously creating a new landscape for high-quality development of the aviation industry.

The "Jiutian" UAV was designed by the First Aircraft Design Institute of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, commissioned by Shaanxi Unmanned Equipment Technology Co., Ltd.

The "Jiutian" UAV has a maximum payload of 6 tons, while a medium-sized fighter jet's payload is only around 7 tons. What kinds of mission payloads can it carry?

Experts say the "Jiutian" UAV can carry a variety of payloads during combat. On one hand, it can carry offensive weapons. For example, it has four hardpoints that can carry a one-ton payload; a one-ton payload is quite large for missiles. At the China Airshow, we saw it also carrying stand-off missiles. These missiles can travel hundreds of kilometers and can also perform stealth penetration, making them very powerful. It can also carry smaller UAVs. It can be said that it can carry almost all current ground attack payloads. At the China Airshow, we also saw it carrying medium-range air-to-air missiles, such as the PL-12E. These missiles can be self-propelled or used for preemptive strikes against enemy aerial targets. More importantly, if it carries advanced electronic warfare pods, it can suppress and jam enemy radar, improving its survivability. Therefore, if it could be equipped with a directional infrared jamming system, using laser beams to interfere with the opponent's infrared-guided missiles, its survivability could be greatly improved. Thus, its high payload capacity allows it to carry a variety of weapons, enhancing both its penetration and strike capabilities and its own survivability.

The "Honeycomb Mission Pod" carried by the "Jiutian" UAV can release hundreds of micro-drones or loitering munitions at once. What missions can this capability be used for?

Expert: Small micro-drones and loitering munitions have a significant advantage in their strong penetration capability, making them difficult for the enemy to intercept due to their small size. However, these micro-drones and loitering munitions also have a limited operational range, typically only 20-30 kilometers. Striking targets deep within enemy territory is quite difficult. But by deploying these small micro-drones on the Jiutian UAV, they can reach deep into enemy territory to conduct strikes.

SS-UAV;

SS-UAV Drone;

Jiu Tian Drone.