Drone production prioritized in China's government and private sectors

BEIJING, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- As part of China's efforts to modernize its military, the government seems to be focused on customizing a fleet of drones with similar capabilities to those used by the U.S. military.

In late December, China's Chengdu Aircraft Corporation debuted a modified version of the Tian Yi (Sky Wing) high-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that resembles Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk.

The new modified Tian Yi, along with the production of a similarly-sized version of the Soar Dragon UAV in November 2013, could signal that such drone production is a "current development priority" for China's People's Liberation Army, according to an assessment by Jane's Defence Weekly.

In addition to military spending on drone production, Forbes also reported a potential boon in the private drone market.

The startup Chinese drone maker EHANG received $10 million in the new year from Chinese-American venture investment firm GGV Capital and investors Xiaoping Xu and Nick Yang to produce a Ghost Drone for the private consumer. According to EHANG, the Ghost Drone would be controlled via smartphone app.