CH-5 UAV allows China to dominate a conventional war.
An often-raised question is: Can't countries like Vietnam fight a guerrilla war against China in a replay of the US-Vietnam War?
The answer is clearly "no" for three reasons.
1. ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon. After the 1960s, EMPs became a mature technology. If China detonates a Megaton-class EMP above Vietnam, it would destroy all of the electronics in Vietnam. This would literally send Vietnam back to the Stone Age. Game over and the war is over.
2. Logistical Difference. The United States had to transport every soldier, weapon, ammunition, and food supply from the continental United States to Vietnam. There was a restriction in the quantity of personnel and weaponry that could be shipped 10,000 miles halfway across the planet.
Geographically, China is located next to Vietnam. China can bring unlimited soldiers, howitzers, tanks, and artillery shells onto a battlefield in Vietnam. Unlimited troops and firepower means a short land war.
3. Robotic drones. We have now arrived at the high-tech evolution of robotic weaponry. In the past (such as the US-Vietnam War), guerrillas could sneak around in the dark at night or under the cover of forest canopy during the daytime. This kind of guerrilla troop movement is no longer possible.
China's CH-5 combat UAV can stay aloft for 60 hours at a time. It carries 1,000kg (or 2,200 pounds) of weaponry. Its Electro-Optical/InfraRed (EO/IR) ball sensor can easily detect warm-body guerrillas. A fleet of Chinese CH-5 UAVs would rain down death on enemy guerrillas.
China's CH-5 UAV flies at 11,500 feet. It can also be used to patrol and assert military control over the South China Sea shipping lanes.
----------
China’s CH-5 UAV conducts live-fire trial with new precision weapon | Janes
"The latest test was staged out of an undisclosed airport in the northwestern province of Gansu during the morning of 21 September, with CASC engineers successfully deploying a new 80 kg-class PGM – carrying a blast fragmentation warhead – via lock-on before launch (LOBL) targeting protocols from a production-model CH-5 at a launch altitude of 11,482 ft.
Further details of the new PGM were not disclosed, although it is understood that the latest effort also enabled engineers to further test and fine-tune the CH-5’s electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) payload as well as its weapons targeting and rail-mounted payload release mechanisms."
----------
Heavily armed CASC CH-5 UAV makes public debut | Janes
"• Designated the CH-5, the air vehicle is the company's largest unmanned platform to date, and can carry as many as 16 air-to-ground weapons
...
CH-5 features a lightweight all-composite airframe structure that is 11 m long and has a wingspan of 21 m. The air vehicle has a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 3,300 kg and can carry a 1,200 kg payload, with an internal mission bay capacity of 200 kg and the remainder provisioned for underwing stores.
...
CASC has specified an operating range of up to 250 km via line-of-sight datalink, although this can be extended to 2,000 km when satellite communication (SATCOM) protocols are employed."