【China's Army KVD002 Reconnaissance and Strike Drone Officially Put into Combat Use】

According to a report published on August 4, 2026, by Jane’s Defence Weekly (Janes) in the UK: CCTV has for the first time released footage showing China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Army deploying the KVD002 unmanned combat aircraft to conduct live-fire strikes against small maritime targets.

The official media outlet Global Times stated that this footage was broadcast on July 31 during a documentary commemorating the 99th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, marking that the KVD002 drone has now achieved full operational and support capabilities.

The documentary footage was shot at an undisclosed air base in southern China, featuring 13 KVD002 drones—none of which were carrying weapons in the scenes shown.

As introduced in the documentary, this strike operation was carried out under the framework of a joint military exercise. After an unidentified unmanned surface vessel (USV) was detected in the southeast coastal waters, one KVD002 drone was dispatched to conduct armed reconnaissance.

In the documentary, Second-Class Private Zhao Licuan, who participated in this mission, explained that the target USV was highly maneuverable, making it difficult for the drone’s onboard computer to maintain a stable lock on the target.

With only three minutes remaining before the scheduled strike window, he switched to manual control mode. He noted that he had just one minute to adjust the drone’s attitude, stabilize its flight altitude and other flight parameters, and complete manual targeting.

The drone is equipped with an electro-optical camera system offering 20x optical zoom capability. Video footage shows a missile striking the USV from above; however, the extent of damage inflicted cannot be determined from the video alone.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) first publicly displayed the KVD002 drone at the 6th China Helicopter Expo in Tianjin in September 2023.

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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1872590505519115/

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