Upgraded combat drone is unveiled

China unveiled a high-end, multi-role combat drone during a recent aviation expo, a move that an industry expert said aims at winning a bigger share of the international military drone market.

The Wing Loong II, which was developed by Aviation Industry Corp of China's Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute in Sichuan province, is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, multi-role drone capable of performing surveillance and reconnaissance as well as air-to-ground strike operations, according to a fact sheet distributed by AVIC during the Aviation Expo China 2015, which concluded in Beijing over the weekend.

The unmanned aircraft was based on its predecessor, Wing Loong I. According to the US magazine Foreign Policy, Wing Loong I has been sold to several countries in Africa and the Middle East, including Nigeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, for an estimated $1 million per unit.