In the 20s of the 21st century, the white-hot competition between China and the United States is unfolded between China and the United States, and the United States is different from the United States, China is willing to sell anti-terrorism large UAVs to third world countries: especially the two series of Pterodactyl and Rainbow, which are regarded as the backbone of China's foreign trade UAVs! In order to adapt to the increasingly severe anti-terrorism situation, China's UAV industry has continuously launched new large-scale high-altitude UAVs: Pterodactyl-3 UAV is one of the leaders;
The maximum take-off weight of the "Pterodactyl"-3 is 6,200 kg, the length is 12.2 meters, the height is 4.3 meters, the wingspan is 24 meters, the external load is 2,000 kg, the internal load is 300 kg, the endurance is 40 hours, and the flight range is 10,000 kilometers - foreign media will call the "Pterodactyl"-3 China's first "intercontinental" UAV;
The "Pterodactyl"-3 has 8 external attachment points under the wings: in addition to common small missiles (air-to-ground missiles, anti-tank missiles, anti-radiation missiles, etc.), small guided bombs, guided rockets, PL-10 advanced short-range air-to-air missiles, PL-12 medium-range air-to-air missiles, electronic warfare pods, ammunition spreaders, etc.;
Its composite pylons are not just twin mounts, but can be mounted with up to four pylons: 32 missiles/rockets! If calculated according to a group of four, 128 small attack anti-tank missiles are enough to deter the attack of a tank brigade! If the warhead is changed to a high-explosive warhead (anti-personnel warhead), then the terrorists can basically be wiped out;
The Nigerian "Pterodactyl-2" drone is equipped with an anti-tank missile warhead, and as a result, only 20-30 terrorists have been eliminated.
In addition, China's drone formations have autonomous hunting and self-assembly - they can track and hunt targets such as terrorist convoys and fixed bunkers/headquarters, and there is no need to send manned aircraft to increase casualties, which can meet the complex environment of counter-terrorism: in early January 2019, a Nigerian Air Force helicopter was shot down in Borno State, killing five people on board, and in February 2021, a Nigerian Air Force Biech "King Air" The B350i turboprop aircraft was attacked on the way to detect bandits, it crashed near the runway of the capital Abuja airport, killing all seven servicemen on board, on March 30, 2021, a Nigerian Air Force "Alpha" fighter was shot down by "Boko Haram" using an anti-aircraft missile, and on July 18, 2021, at noon, a Nigerian Air Force "Alpha" A fighter jet was attacked by a terrorist group on the border between Zamfara and Kaduna states in the north-west of the country, where it crashed, and on August 16, 2023, a Niger Air Force Mi-171 on a rescue mission was shot down by a terrorist group in Niger state...... If it continues like this, coupled with poor maintenance, the Nigerian Air Force will become a bare-pole commander;
Nigeria's terrorist armed forces are not just "pickup trucks + anti-aircraft machine guns": they have modern equipment such as anti-mine vehicles, tracked/wheeled armored vehicles, anti-aircraft missiles/anti-tank missiles, tanks, and engineering vehicles through capture, modification, overseas assistance, etc., just like a national army. The Nigerian military must be held accountable for this: the Nigerian army lacks the will to fight and tactics, the corruption is serious, the middle and lower officer corps lacks unity and command ability, the air force lacks an effective battlefield situational awareness system, etc., and many armored vehicles are given to terrorist organizations unscathed!
To this end, Nigeria sent the officer corps and backbone non-commissioned officers of the Chinese Mechanics Division to China for training, and returned to China as seed instructors to train soldiers, so that the Nigerian army was surrounded by terrorist forces but used Chinese tanks and wheeled assault guns to break through the encirclement of the successful rescue -- it was worthy of China's advanced tank and assault gun groups; in addition, Nigeria also purchased 60 Type 89 tracked armored vehicles from China to supplement the sparse combat units;
Of course, the most effective counter-terrorism is the Chinese-style UAV: in addition to the Rainbow 3/4, in order to familiarize itself with the operation of the five "Pterodactyl-2", Nigeria specially selected a team of more than 70 people to go to China for training and purchase a complete "Pterodactyl-2" combat module and weapons and ammunition - that is, the Nigerian army is already familiar with the tactical and logistical support workflow of the "Pterodactyl-2".
The Chinese "Pterodactyl"-2 UAV has a maximum ceiling of 9,000 meters, and the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV has a maximum ceiling of 15,000 meters. However, the advantage of the "Wing Loong"-2 is that it has the ability to launch missiles at an altitude of 8,000 meters, while the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV needs to descend to 5,000 meters before it can use weapons; then, what about the Wing Loong-3? Its maximum ceiling is definitely more than 15,000 meters, and the altitude of launching ground-to-ground missiles can be increased to 10,000 meters -- this is a height that cannot be reached by NATO air defense missiles obtained by terrorist organizations!
The Americans advocate immediate strike tactics in the war on terror: using the drone's long-endurance characteristics to strike terrorists as soon as they emerge — and with proper maintenance, the Pterodactyl-3's 40-hour non-landing capability is enough to take on the task. In view of its large load capacity, the Nepalese Air Force ground strike mission is no longer undertaken by trainers/helicopters, nor does it need to be close or air-to-ground support, but can be escorted by the Thunder Dragon, UAV medium/long-range attack, so that the terrorist organization's air defense missiles can not be played, which can minimize the loss of casualties of the Nepalese Air Force;
The "Pterodactyl-3" has a built-in advanced situational awareness system that allows it to detect and target terrorist organizations from a long distance and strike them immediately: the Nigerian Air Force's Chinese-style UAV swarm has repeatedly adopted "patrol-strike" tactics to eliminate terrorists and convoys, and at the same time obtained a large amount of information on the activities of terrorist organizations;
At present, the foreign trade model of the "Pterodactyl-X" that it participates in the Middle East Defense Exhibition is given to all kinds of imaginations: Has the Nigerian Air Force already ordered it? If the Nigerian Air Force does not want to give away heads, the purchase of the Pterodactyl-3 is one of the best plans, and in any case, 70 percent of its defense forces are already Chinese-style equipment.