CH-4 Rainbow
Country: 
ChinaManufacturer: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)
CASC's CH-4 Rainbow is the most exported MALE UCAV of the Cai Hong series: 30 hours endurance, 6 hardpoints, ~USD 4M unit cost. Operated by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Pakistan and Nigeria against insurgencies and cartels.
CASC's CH-4 Rainbow is the most exported MALE UCAV of the Cai Hong series: 30 hours endurance, 6 hardpoints, ~USD 4M unit cost. Operated by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Pakistan and Nigeria against insurgencies and cartels.
Community
Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- CH-4 Rainbow
- Alias
- Cai Hong-4 (CH-4A / CH-4B)
- Manufacturer
- China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)
- Country
- China
- Year
- 2014
- Category
- UCAV (Combat UAV)
- Class
- MALE (Medium-altitude / long-endurance)
- Status
- In service
Performance
- Range
- 3500 km
- Endurance
- 30 h (CH-4B)
- Top speed
- 235 km/h
- Service ceiling
- 7,300 m
- Propulsion
- Pistone heavy fuel, ~100 hp
Physical characteristics
- MTOW
- 1330 kg
- Payload
- 345 kg
- Hardpoints
- 6
- Weapons
- AR-1, AR-2, FT-7, FT-9, FT-10 bombe a guida laser/GPS
Onboard systems
- Sensors
- EO/IR FLIR, SAR opzionale, designatore laser
- Datalink / control
- SATCOM Ku-band + LOS C-band
- Launch
- Decollo da pista
- Recovery
- Atterraggio su pista
Tags
Main operators
History
First flight in 2011, exported since 2014. Iraq has used it since 2015 against ISIS with over 260 missions and hundreds of confirmed AR-1 launches.
Saudi Arabia deployed 5+ in Yemen (some shot down by the Houthis). Seen in Libya, Algeria against AQIM and Nigeria against Boko Haram. The much lower cost compared to the Reaper makes it the de facto standard of non-aligned customers.