SINGAPORE — Beyond China’s ostentatious display of its J-35A fighter jet at the Singapore Airshow was a lower-profile piece of equipment, the new Wing-Loong X combat drone, which experts say is far more likely to find international success.
Beijing banked on Asia’s largest aerospace event, organized here from Feb. 3-7, to flex its aviation muscle, in a bid to attract more customers.
At the enormous booth of the country’s top aerospace manufacturer, Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, placed in the center of the exhibition hall, a mock-up of the WL-X combat drone was displayed on the side. It was the first time the latest member of the Wing Loong family of drones, designed for maritime surveillance and strike missions, was shown in the Southeast Asia region.
Whereas Chinese military equipment may have been previously overlooked, experts say that the context has changed, as its systems are being taken more seriously, especially in the drone category.
“Chinese products are not only being noticed in the West, but their aircraft and combat drones are also being recognized as competitors – the capability gap between these systems and their U.S. competitors is narrowing while maintaining significantly lower costs,” Andreas Rupprecht, a military aviation researcher specializing in China, said.
Considering Beijing’s robust export footprint in uncrewed systems, the WL-X could could find similar success among customers interested in bolstering their maritime capabilities.
“The Wing Loong family and CH-drone series have been sold to dozens of states; it is plausible to expect the new drone on the buying list of countries that cannot access or afford Western systems due to cost, export controls, or political constraints,” Federico Borsari, resident fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said.
At a 2024 exhibition in China, AVIC displayed a prototype of the drone armed with different maritime weapon systems, including underwing sonobuoy dispenser pods and electric-propulsion torpedoes. At the Singapore Airshow, while information was displayed regarding the physical capabilities and 24-meter wingspan of the WL-X, the manufacturer offered no information on payload options.
Among the list of operators of the Chinese-made Wing Loong drone models are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, Indonesia, and Nigeria. In 2024, the Royal Saudi Air Force reportedly reached a new milestone with its Wing Loong II fleet, logging 5,000 flight hours.
According to Borsari, some of these countries could be potential recurring customers of the new variant, interested in integrating it to support their navies.
The success of the WL-X will largely be contingent on its price tag, which is traditionally an area where China faces weaker competition from more expensive Western-made platforms.
A waiting game
While China has been profitable in the combat drone sector, it has not seen the same success in the smaller market for fifth-generation fighter jets, even if the large-scale model of the J-35A here garnered attention from visitors here.
A company representative declined to answer whether foreign buyers had expressed interest in the Chinese-built aircraft.
According to Timothy Heath, senior international defense researcher at RAND, the Asian country will have a hard time marketing it in an already saturated market.
“The industry is small for Beijing since many of the wealthiest countries that can afford fifth-generation airplanes are either allies with the U.S. or long-standing clients of Russia. … Only a few, such as Pakistan, have enduring security ties with China,” Heath said.
He suggested that the country’s best attempt is likely to result from “poaching” clients from Moscow, especially as its military industry has lagged due to the war in Ukraine.
A 2025 report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission noted that Beijing reportedly offered to sell 40 J-35As to Pakistan in June 2025, but that these deliveries have not yet been completed.
Unmanned
C4ISRNet
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