China to supply attack drones to Pakistan

As India-China tensions turn into an ugly stalemate at the LAC_ a new report has rung alarm bells for the Indians. Pakistan may deploy Chinese CH-4 drones near the Line of Control (the de-facto border between Pakistan and India in Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh) to strike Indian assets deployed in the region. According to the information given by intelligence sources claimed by the Indian news outlet Zee News_ Pakistan may be in process of procuring and fielding the CH-4 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from China in big numbers. Zee quoting its sources also claimed that a 10-member Pakistani team led by Brigadier Mohammed Zafar Iqbal reached China to oversee the procurement process from Aerospace Long-March International Trade Company (ALIT). It was also revealed that Brigadier Iqbal had earlier visited China in December 2019 for the factory acceptance test of the first tranche of Cai Hong-4 (CH-4) for which delivery was to commence in 2020. The UAV_ which is deemed to be a Chinese copy of the American MQ-9  Reaper drone can carry 6 weapons on its hardpoints and a payload of up to 345 kgs. While the armed version CH-4B exists_ the unarmed CH-4A is a long-endurance medium-altitude drone. The aircraft is reportedly capable of firing air-to-ground munitions from a maximum height of 16_000 feet. China has already confirmed the export of the armed Wing Loong-II drones to Pakistan earlier in 2018. As the US assists China s rivals like India_ Taiwan_ and Japan with the latest state-of-art weapons_ the move of supplying Pakistan with high-technology drones is seen as a response to this strategy.