Feilong (loitering munition)

The Feilong (FL; Chinese: 飞龙; lit. 'flying dragon'), also known as the Cruise Dragon or Loitering Dragon, is a series of loitering munition developed by the China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco). The missile features various variants with different sizes, endurance, and launch methods.

Description

The Feilong-5A is a small loitering munition in a quadcopter configuration. The Feilong-10A (Loitering Dragon 10A) is launched from a mortar-like launcher. The Feilong-30 can be launched from trucks, armored vehicles, and naval ships. The Feilong-60A (Loitering Dragon 60A) and the Feilong-60B (Loitering Dragon 60B) are launched from the SR-5 multiple rocket launch system; The Feilong-60A resembles a cruise missile in profile, featuring a rocket motor for propulsion, a rectangular missile body, a pair of panel wings, and four cruciform trailing edges. The Feilong-60B resembles the more common Loitering munition design, with an electro-optical seeker head for reconnaissance, four folding wings, and propellers for propulsion. The Feilong-300A is designed as an anti-radiation loitering munition targeting a range of 300 km (190 mi).

Feilong-300

FL-300A (ASN-301) mock-up at IDEX 2023

The Feilong-300A, also called ASN-301, is a low-cost anti-radiation loitering munition designed for Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions. It features a delta-wing configuration modeled after the IAI Harpy drone, which China purchased in the 1990s. Originally, Israel planned to upgrade the Harpy bought by China in 2004, but the deal was canceled after the United States' intervention, eventually leading to China reverse-engineering the drone. It's fitted with an anti-radiation seeker for hunting radars and a laser proximity fuse for dispensing 7,000 preformed fragments. The drone has a weight of 135–200 kg (298–441 lb), a range of 280–300 km (170–190 mi), and a loitering duration of 4 hours. The ASN-301 was publicly unveiled in 2017.

Another variant, called Feilong-300D, reportedly has a range of 1,000 km (620 mi).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "智能弹药". Norinco.
  2. ↑ Chen, Chuanren (14 March 2025). "China Completes Development Of Rocket-Launched Loitering Munition". Aviation Week.
  3. ↑ "珠海航展，无人装备无处不在！". State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. 10 November 2022.
  4. ↑ Chen, Chuanren (14 March 2025). "China Wraps Up Feilong-60A Loitering Munition Development". Aviation Week.
  5. ↑ Zhai, Charriot; Wang, Qiang (8 September 2025). "China Parade: New Weapons More Efficient Than Nuclear Bombs". China Academy.
  6. ↑ "China showcases full spectrum of drone technology in 'border control' exercise". South China Morning Post. 22 July 2025.
  7. ↑ "珠海航展蜂群巡飞弹白菜化，各种载具都能打，各厂商开启疯狂内卷". Tencent News. 11 November 2022.
  8. ↑ Felstead, Peter (8 January 2023). "What are loitering aerial munitions?". Key Aero. China now produces a wide variety of LMs, a number of which – such as the Rainbow CH-901/FH-901, Norinco Cruise Dragon/Loitering Dragon 10A, and BG-201 – are launched from a mortar-like launcher and are roughly analogous to the US Switchblade. The 7kg RF70, 10kg RF90 and 20kg RF200 are similar but can also be air-launched. The Norinco Loitering Dragon 5A is a small quadcopter LM, while the 7kg S570 is similar to smaller LMs in the Hero family and is said to be able to penetrate 60mm of armour. The turbojet-powered, 100-150kg series of CM-501 LMs developed by CASIC offer a variety of payloads and ranges out to 70km, while the Cruise Dragon/Loitering Dragon 60A and WS-43 are larger LMs deployed from a multiple rocket launcher.
  9. 1 2 馬浩亮 (9 December 2024). "反輻射無人機飛龍蜂群癱瘓敵方防空" (PDF). Ta Kung Pao (in Traditional Chinese).
  10. ↑ Kunertova, Dominika (17 March 2026). "The Iran conflict edges the world closer to a new drone arms race". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
  11. ↑ "Israeli Concept, Iranian Drone, American Copy". Techtime. 10 March 2026.
  12. ↑ Liu, Zhen (22 March 2026). "Why is China's ASN-301 suicide drone more deadly than its Iranian counterpart?". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 22 March 2026. Retrieved 22 April 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ↑ "Idex 2017: Catic reveals details about Harpy-type loitering munition". Janes. March 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017.
  14. ↑ "China Markets $10K Feilong-300D Drone as Affordable Strike Option". Defense Post. 7 November 2025.