16-Ton Jiutian UAV Completes Maiden Flight
善守者藏于九地之下，善攻者动于九天之上
On December 11, the ‘Jiutian’ (Nine Heavens) heavy UAV prototype successfully completed its maiden flight at Pucheng General Airport — a national civil aircraft test-flight base in Pucheng County, Shaanxi Province, northwest China.
The platform is a 16-ton class UAV, initially unveiled at the 15th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (Zhuhai Airshow) in 2024.
For comparison, the MQ-9A Reaper is a 4.8-ton class medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV, the MQ-9B Guardian is a 5.7-ton class MALE UAV, and the Wing Loong-X is a 6-ton class MALE UAV.
Readers may have already seen coverage of the Jiutian flight; this report takes a deeper look at the UAV’s design, capabilities, and industrial ecosystem.
Let’s get into it.