Xi'an Bingguo (Bingo) ZT-180 Loitering Munition

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I wasn't sure if this should go in Aviation & Space or The Bar ...

In the news is mention of a Chinese 'kamikaze' drone being built for use by Russia. This drone is listed as a Bingo ZT-180 capable of carrying a 35-to-50 kg warhead (although, that weight range is awfully close to Shahed-136 warhead estimates of 30-to-50 kg). In all news reports, the Bingo drone is said to be "similar to the Iranian Shahed-136". Whether that similarity refers to the layout of the Iranian UAV or just to its one-way role is unclear.

So, does anyone have details on this ZT-180 loitering munition?

Pure speculation but I did wonder if the ZT-180 might be based on Bingo's earlier, twin-boomed BG-JX300 drone. That BG-JX300 had a payload of 80 kg and a range of 1,600 km ... so a slightly greater payload than the Shahed-136 but with a range nearer the middle of estimates for that Iranian loiterer (970-to-2,500 km).

I have found information to be rare on the brand-name Bingo and its products. The manufacturer is Xi'an Bingguo Intelligent Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. - also given as 'Xian Bingo', 'Xi'an Bingo', sometimes Bingo Smart, just Bingguo, or even Binguo. As the name suggests, the firm is located in Xi'an (Shaanxi Province). Based on a vague company profile, Bingguo is a small firm employing "1-49 people". All of their earlier product line was designated in a BG-xx style so the loitering munition may actually have a designation more like 'BG-ZT180'.

Xi'an Bingguo Intelligent Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. was established back in 2017 (but note that BG-MH30 development dates back at least to 2015). Some sources say Bingguo had RMB 50 million in capital on start up, others only RMB 10M. According to the Bingguo company profile on www-81uav-cn, the firm's margin is 0.00 yuan. So, I guess that means that they're hungry?

Bingguo claims an Australian 'branch' with connections to the Australian University Research Institute. AFAIK, the latter is a generic term from foreign student applications ... not a reference to a specific school. On the other hand, Bingguo has photos of a BG-V45 flying operations in Northern Territory. Basic Google searches for Bingguo in Australia produce no useful results.

Bingguo also claims that a "German R&D center is also under construction." Again, Google searches only produce results for State Commissioner Dai Bingguo. Nothing at all under 'drohne'. Anyway, just because I can't find it doesn't mean that info isn't out there.

Because details on Xi'an Bingguo UAVs are hard to find in the West, I'll summarize what I have found beginning with the next post.

As mentioned above, prior to the ZT-180, Xi'an Bingguo products all had 'BG' designations (presumably for BingGuo). The BG-30 designation is the simplest (and may be based on its transmission distance of 30 km). All other 'BG' designations have letter prefixes before their numbers.

Alas, I have no indication of what such prefixes stand for. It is tempting to suggest that the 'V' in BG-V45 stands for VTOL. But then why 'VT' for the BG-VT10? The 'X' in BG-X24 may be as simple as describing that quadcopter's cruciform layout in planform. But the 'JX', 'ME', or 'MH' prefixes are anyone's guess.

It is a little easier to play match-the-number with some of the 'BG' designations. These might be: BG-X24 (24 hour endurance); BG-30 (30x optical zoom or 30 km transmission); BG-V45 (45 kg MTOW); and BG-JX300 (300 m T/O and landing runs). But for the others ... who knows?
 
Xi'an Bingguo BG-VT10 - Tilt-rotor VTOL drone, twin tilting rotors/propellers, vertical rotor/propeller beneath tail. Tail rotor is for trim during take-off and landing.

Performance: Speed: 50-80 km/h; Ceiling: 5000 m; Working Altitude: 3000 m; Wind Resistance: Level 5; Control Radius: 30 km
Maximum Battery Life/Endurance: 90 min
Construction: Composite material; carbon fibre propellers/rotors
Power: (??)
Dimensions: Span: 2.2 m; Rotor Diameters: Main 2.15 inches (55 mm); Tail 1.14 inches (29 mm)
Weights: MTOW: 9 kg; Max Payload: 2 kg
Sensor: Sparkle Tech EOT-140A3 gimbal camera (Sony CMOS);* 1.8 kg; IR & TV
-- * CMOS = Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
-- 1080P full HD 23.4 million pixels, PDAF through-the-lens autofocusing

_____________________________
 

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Xi'an Bingguo BG-ME15 - 201? surveillance hexacopter. Operational in 2018 performing environmental protection monitoring flights over newly-installed high-tension transmission lines and local substations. (The powerline inspection role is now being done by hybrid BG-MH30s.)

"BG-ME15 carries a five-slot tilt camera for aerial photography". I'm assuming that "five-slot" refers to the E/O's five-lens multi-spectral camera.

Performance: Max Speed: 50 km/h; Cruise: 10 km/h; Payload: 6 kg
Maximum Battery Life: 1 hour
Construction: Composite carbon fibre material
Power: 6 x (??) electric motors
Dimensions:
Weights:
Sensor: Sparkle Tech EOT-140A3 gimbal camera (Sony CMOS); 1.8 kg; IR & TV
Sensor: Shenzhen Viewpro Z10F gimbal camera; 10X zoom
Sensor: (make?) 5-lens multi-spectral camera (water pollution analyis)

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Xi'an Bingguo BG-X24 - Tethered surveillance quadcopter, 24 hour endurance due to tether incorporating ground power cord. Single operator, designed to be packed "in the trunk of a police motorcycle". Intended for police operations: Urban monitoring, traffic direction, facial recognition.

Performance: Speed: 29 km/h; Ceiling 50m (limited by power cable length)
Maximum Battery Life: 24 hours (continuous work) with tether power cable
Hover Accuracy: Horiz. ±1.5m Vert. ±1.5m
Power:
Construction: Carbon fibre composite material; carbon fibre propeller
Dimensions: Wheelbase: 450 mm; Propellers Diameter: 12 inches (309 mm)
Weights: MTOW: 3 kg ; Payload: 500 g
Sensor: Shenzhen Viewpro Z10F gimbal camera; 10X zoom
 

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Xi'an Bingguo BG-MH30 - 2015 free-flying surveillance hexacopter, petrol-electric hybrid drive. Aka 'Bingo-MH30'. The 'first generation' BG-MH30 was developed in 2015. The 'third generation' BG-MH30 introduced variable-pitch rotors. There's no mention of a 'second generation'.

Performance: Max speed: 10 m/s; Cruise: 8 m/s; Max ascent: 3 m/s; Max descent: 2 m/s; Ceiling: 2000 m; Wind Resistance: Level 4
Maximum Battery Life: 4 hours
Construction: Composite carbon fibre material
Power: Petrol-electric hybrid (no details provided)
Dimensions: Frame deployed: 1650x1650x750 mm; Folded: 1150x1150x750 mm
Weights: MTOW: 35 kg; Payload: 14 kg; Fuel: 6 kg (fuel consumption 3 kg/h)
Propellers: Carbon fibre material; Propeller Diameter 32 inches (813 mm)
Data Transmission: 50 km
 

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Xi'an Bingguo BG-30 - Low-winged, twin-boomed pusher with fixed wheeled undercarriage.

Performance:
Maximum Battery Life: 8h
Construction: Composite carbon fibre material
Power: "Advanced aero-engine imported from Germany"
Dimensions:
Weights:
Sensors: HD PTZ pod with 30x optical zoom and 1080p full HD video recording
Data Transmission: 30 km high-definition image real-time return
 

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Xi'an Bingguo BG-JX300 - High-winged, twin-boomed pusher with fixed wheeled undercarriage.

Performance: Max speed: 220 km/h; Cruising: 150-180 km/h; Climb Rate: 4 m/s; Ceiling: 7000 m
Endurance: >10 hours (full load); 1600 km at 160 km/h; Radius: 800 km
Construction: Carbon fibre composites and aviation aluminum alloys
Power: 1 x 630 cc two-stroke HO2 tractor engine
Dimensions: Span: 7 m; Length: 4.3 m; Height: 1.7 m
Weights: MTOW: 350 kg; Airframe Weight: 270 kg; Max Payload: 80 kg;
Sensors: HD PTZ pod with 30x optical zoom and 1080p full HD video recording
Transmission: 30 km high-definition image real-time return
 

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Xi'an Bingguo BG-V45 - Low-winged twin-boomed pusher VTOL (with 2 x lift-rotors on each boom and pusher prop at the rear of the pod), fixed skid undercarriage. Promo text suggests that the original designation may have been 'BG-35' .

Performance: Max speed: 140km/h; Ceiling: 5000 m; Wind Resistance: Level 5
Endurance: Full Fuel = 5 hours (fuel tank 10L); Control Radius: 50 km
Construction: Carbon fiber composites and aerospace aluminum alloys
Power: (Presumably petrol for pusher prop + electric for 4 x lift-rotors)
Propeller Diameters: Pusher: 20 inches (508 mm); Rotors 32 inches (813 mm)
- Propeller construction optionally available in wood or carbon fibre
Dimensions: Span 4.1 m
Weights: MTOW: 45 kg; Max Payload: 10 kg
Sensors: Undernose electro-optical turret
Data Transmission: 30 km long-distance data transmission

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So, does anyone have more Xi'an Bingguo products?
 

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A bit more corporate stuff on Xi'an Bingguo Intelligent Aviation Technology Co., Ltd.

According to qcc-com, the date of establishment for Xi'an Bingguo was 15 March 2017 (although in their 'Brief Introduction', they say established in 2015!) Bingguo's Executive Director and GM is Ma Jingdong who also a major shareholder/investor. Ma is connected with lots of small businesses (see below) including with Guodian Ruiyuan (Xi'an) Intelligent Research Institute Co., Ltd - which is non-UAV related, focusing on VR, cloud computing, etc.

Xi'an Bingguo Intelligent Aviation Technology Co., Ltd.
- Address: Room 201, Building D, Xi'an National Digital Publishing Base, No. 996, Tiangu 7th Road, High-tech Zone, Xi'an
- Established: 15 March 2017; Registered Capital: RMB 50 million
- Ma Jingdong: Executive Director and General Manager, Legal Representative
- Wang Xirui: Supervisor

Other related company names pop up as well:

Xi'an Bingguo Innovation Aviation Technology Co., Ltd.

- Established: 16 Nov 2022; Registered Capital: RMB 50 million
- Huang Kangyao: (??)

Xi'an Bingguo UAV Technology Service Co., Ltd.
-- Address: Room 20702, 7th Floor, Unit 2, Building 1, Oak Constellation, North of Keji 5th Road, High-Tech Zone, Xi'an
- Established: 16 Nov 2022; Registered Capital: RMB 50 million
- Ma Jingdong: Executive Director and General Manager, Legal Representative -
- Ma Xiaodong: Supervisor
-- With connections to Xi'an Zhongchuang Zhihang UAV Technology
-- With connections to Guodian Ruiyuan (Xi'an) Intelligent Research Institute Co., Ltd.
-- With connections to Beijing Binguo Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (qv)

Xi'an Bingguo Computer System Co., Ltd.
- Established: 20 Oct 2021; Registered Capital: RMB 10 million
- Ma Jingdong: Legal representative
- Zhang Zhengtong: (??)

Beijing Binguo Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.
- Guan Haipei: (??)
- Ma Xiaodong: (??)
-- 'Binguo' vs 'Bingguo' may simply be a Google Translate artifact.

There are probably plenty of other associated firms and top-brass linkages.

Bingguo is also advertising MR series UAV flight controllers with their "Consumer grade" MR-100 and industrial grade MR-200 systems. Control ranges are quite different - 5 km for the MR-100, 60 km for the MR-200. That 'MR' is for multi-rotor but, meaning that both the MR-100 and MR-200 suited to quadcopters through "octorotor" types.

If anyone has more on Bingguo - or especially its UAV models - I'd love to hear. Today, lots of my Google Image returns come from this thread so I'm starting to chase my own tail ;p
 
Something called the China Military Drone Alliance is now offering the ZT-180 for sale on their website: -- https://www.militarydrones.org.cn/zt-180-drone-p00703p1.html

This 'offer' is accompanied by rather generic artwork of a HESA Shahed-136. When I first looked, no details were given of the ZT-180. But the site has now added this description:

ZT-180 Loitering Munition Drone (Suicide Drone)
Overview:
The ZT-180 drone adopts delta wing layout to effectively improve the cruising speed and reduce the size of UAV. The wing-body fusion design reduces the resistance of the whole aircraft, and realizes the compact structure for carrying easily; The design scheme of wing + fuselage with 3 fuel tanks is adopted to effectively increase the tank volume of UAV, reduce the cross-sectional area of fuselage, thus reduce the flight resistance of UAV and increase the flight duration. Adopt tail-push power arrangement to improve propeller efficiency.

ZT-180 Drone Features:
Low cost
Small volume, rapid deployment
Quick retrofit and replacement load
Compact structure design, easy to transport.

ZT-180 Drone Specification:
Length: 2.8 meters
Wing length: 2.6 m
Flying speed: 43 m/s
Endurance: 10h
Effective range: 1800 km
Payload: 34kg
Maximum take-off weight: 170kg
Take-off mode: catapult-assisted take-off

Still no mention of Bingguo as manufacturer. But the specs do differ slightly from published estimates on the Shahed-136. If those specs are accurate, the payload is smaller than expected but with a greater range. Quoted sizes suggests that Bingguo may be following the scaling-up example used by SAIRS (Shahed Aviation Industries Research) itself to evolve the Shahed-136 from the slightly smaller Shahed-131. [1]

Elsewhere, I noted a few Tweets on the ZT-180 by a guy associated with Armament Research Services (ARES) posted a few days after mine. Alas, no new info there from Patrick Senft.

Still, he may be worth tracking in case anything new on the ZT-180 comes to light:
-- https://twitter.com/SenftPatrick
 

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