With the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) displayed at the World Defense Show (WDS) 2024 held in Riyadh from 4 to 8 February, the company official told Janes that the payloads will be different for the export variant compared with the baseline variant. The company official also revealed that the base variant WL-10 UAV and the lower endurance variant WL-10A are in service with China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
Alongside the WL-10B, CATIC displayed a range of weapons that can be fitted onto the UAV. These include the TY-90 air-to-air missile, AG-300/M air-to-ground missile, FT-7A/W laser-guided bomb, YJ-9E anti-ship missile, TL-20 guided bomb, and LS-6/100NLS miniature-guided bomb.
The high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) WL-10 features a relatively low-wing cranked planform with slender fuselage that incorporates a bulged nose section (incorporating a dorsal antenna hump), a tricycle undercarriage, a V-shaped tail assembly incorporating ruddervators, and a rear-mounted turbojet engine.
The WL-10B has a large trapezoidal dorsal engine intake and a concealed exhaust at the rear of the fuselage, suggesting a single engine. The UAV is fitted with a communication antenna and ultra/very-high-frequency (U/VHF) datalinks. An additional electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) sensor will be fitted ventrally ahead of the communication antenna.