China’s WZ-9 Divine Eagle Drone Deployed In South China Sea

China’s WZ-9 Divine Eagle Drone Deployed In South China Sea: China’s large, twin-fuselage WZ-9 Divine Eagle drone has been observed operating from Ledong Air Base (also known as Foluo Northeast Air Base) on Hainan Island at the northern end of the South China Sea. Satellite imagery from Planet Labs confirmed the drone’s presence at the base on December 4, 2024, with additional Maxar Technologies images showing it remained there as recently as yesterday.

Strategic Significance and Capabilities

The WZ-9 Divine Eagle is a high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) uncrewed aircraft designed as a sophisticated sensor platform. With its distinctive twin-fuselage design and extensive radar capabilities, it can detect and track targets in the air and on surface waters, while also producing high-quality radar imagery. Its deployment to Hainan Island positions it perfectly to provide broad-area early warning and surveillance coverage over the South China Sea and potentially far beyond.

The satellite imagery also revealed two additional drones at the base: a WZ-7 Soaring Dragon with its joined-wing design (which has been operating from the location since at least 2022) and another unidentified aircraft with a v-shaped tail that could potentially be from the Wing Loong family.

Technical Specifications and Development

While detailed information about the Divine Eagle remains limited, available imagery shows its remarkable design features:

• A very long high-aspect-ratio main wing (approximately 147 feet/45 meters in span)
• A smaller wing structure between the front ends of the two fuselages as a forward stabilizer
• A single jet engine mounted in a nacelle pod atop the main wing between two vertical tails
• Overall length of just under 50 feet (15 meters)

For comparison, the US RQ-4 Global Hawk has a wingspan of nearly 131 feet (40 meters) and is almost 48 feet (14.5 meters) long.

The WZ-9 reportedly houses at least two large side-looking radars (SLARs), one in each fuselage facing outward, potentially with ground and air moving-target indicator capabilities and synthetic aperture radar imaging functionality. The drone is believed to have made its maiden flight in 2015, with development tracing back to the early 2010s.

Also read this: China’s KJ-3000 Early Warning Aircraft Spotted Again

Strategic Applications

As part of China’s anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy in the South China Sea, the WZ-9 could provide persistent surveillance over broad areas for longer periods than crewed aircraft. This makes it an extremely valuable source of situational awareness and targeting data for air, ground, and ship-launched missiles.

Beyond the South China Sea, Divine Eagles operating from Hainan could conduct similar missions around Taiwan or project further into the Pacific, serving as critical components of complex kill chains stationed at forward positions. The aircraft might also be deployed in other contested regions, including China’s disputed borders with India.

This deployment represents the latest development in China’s increasing use of sophisticated drones for persistent surveillance of strategically important areas, further enhancing the PLA’s capabilities in the highly contested South China Sea region.

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