CH-7 Rainbow

China's stealth flying-wing combat drone — the CASC CH-7 (Rainbow-7), a tailless, low-observable, high-altitude uncrewed aircraft for deep-penetration reconnaissance, strike, and long-range maritime targeting. Shown as a full-scale mockup back in 2018, it finally took to the air in late 2025 — the export-line peer to the PLA's GJ-11 and Russia's Okhotnik.

Overview

The CH-7 (Caihong-7, "Rainbow-7") is a Chinese stealth uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) built around a tailless flying-wing planform for low observability. It is developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA), part of the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) — the "Rainbow/CH" line best known for the export CH-4 and CH-5 strike drones, but with the CH-7 reaching into the high-end stealth segment occupied by the PLA's GJ-11 Sharp Sword and Russia's S-70 Okhotnik. Pitched as a high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) platform for deep-penetration ISR/ISTAR, strike, and long-range maritime targeting, it spent years as an airshow mockup before a flying prototype emerged in late 2025.

Development

The CH-7 was first unveiled as a full-scale mockup at the Airshow China (Zhuhai) exhibition in 2018, then went quiet and was redesigned; a mockup reappeared, displayed with air-to-surface weapons, at Airshow China 2024, as Janes noted, and Chinese state media (Global Times) had reported in February 2024 that the program "concluded testing." A first, unofficial in-flight image surfaced on 11 November 2025, and around 15 December 2025 Chinese state media published video confirming the maiden flight, as reported by The Aviationist and AeroTime. CASC chief designer Li Jianhua said the inaugural flight was meant to validate the aircraft's "basic flight characteristics" and "the rationality of its design scheme." The flying prototype differs in detail from the 2018 mockup, and the program remains in flight test rather than service.

Design & capabilities

The CH-7 is a tailless flying-wing that blends wing and fuselage into a single low-drag, low-signature structure, with serrated panel edges and a shielded engine exhaust intended to reduce both radar and infrared signatures, as described by AeroTime and Defence Blog. Chinese descriptions place it in the high-altitude, long-endurance category, optimized for persistent, deep-penetration reconnaissance and early warning, with a secondary strike role and — significantly for the Pacific — a long-range maritime ISTAR mission, sending back targeting data on enemy vessels to cue long-range anti-ship missiles, per The Aviationist. Performance figures promoted around the 2018 mockup (a wingspan on the order of 22 m, a multi-tonne payload and a ceiling around 13 km) should be treated as historical/claimed, since the flown aircraft's specifications have not been officially disclosed and its shape changed.

Variants

The CH-7 has been shown in more than one configuration — the larger 2018 Zhuhai mockup and the revised, somewhat different flying prototype of 2025. CASC has displayed it with associated air-to-surface weapons (Airshow China 2024). No production variants are confirmed; it sits alongside, rather than within, CASC's earlier non-stealthy CH-4/CH-5 strike-drone line.

Combat record / operational use

None. The CH-7 has appeared as exhibition mockups and, since late 2025, as a flying prototype; there is no operational use or combat record.

Advantages

• Low-observable tailless flying-wing (radar + IR signature reduction) for penetrating contested airspace where non-stealthy MALE drones cannot survive.
• High-altitude, long-endurance persistence for deep ISR/early warning and long-range maritime targeting that feeds China's anti-ship strike complex.
• Backed by CASC's mature, export-oriented Rainbow line and industrial base.
• Strike capability (air-to-surface weapons shown) adds an ISR-strike option in one low-observable airframe.

Drawbacks / limitations

• Long gap between the 2018 mockup and the 2025 first flight signals a protracted, uncertain development; it is years behind some Western flying-wing UCAVs.
• Specifications are reported/claimed and the flown prototype differs from the displayed mockups.
• The hard parts of a stealth UCAV — survivable autonomy, secure datalinks, and genuine all-aspect low observability — are undemonstrated publicly.
• Still a prototype; no fielding timeline confirmed.

Counterparts

• GJ-11 Sharp Sword (China) — the PLA's operational stealth flying-wing UCAV; the CH-7 is the CASC/export-line peer in the same class.
• S-70 Okhotnik (Russia) — heavy stealth flying-wing UCAV peer.
• US X-47B (demonstrator) and RQ-170 Sentinel — the Western tailless low-observables the CH-7 echoes.

Outlook

With its maiden flight achieved in late 2025, the CH-7 moves from perennial airshow model to a real flight-test program — and its most consequential role may be less as a bomber than as the stealthy, high-flying sensor that finds and cues targets for China's long-range strike complex, including anti-ship weapons like the YJ-21 and DF-series. The trajectory to watch is whether CASC turns the prototype into a fielded system, what autonomy and datalink architecture it reveals, and whether the type is offered for export (as the CH line traditionally is) or reserved for the PLA. For now it is a credible marker of Chinese stealth-UCAV progress whose real capability remains to be demonstrated.

Key specifications

Sources

1. Janes — China's CH-7 stealth UAV conducts maiden flight (Caihong-7/Rainbow-7; tailless LO; 2024 mockup with weapons). https://www.janes.com/osint-insights/defence-news/defence/chinas-ch-7-stealth-uav-conducts-maiden-flight
2. AeroTime — China's CH-7 stealth uncrewed flying wing completes first flight (CAAA/CASC; blended wing-body, serrated edges, shielded exhaust). https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/china-ch7-stealth-drone-maiden-flight
3. The Aviationist — China's CH-7 Flying Wing Drone Conducts First Flight (HALE; chief designer Li Jianhua). https://theaviationist.com/2025/12/15/china-ch-7-drone-first-flight/
4. The Aviationist — China's CH-7 UAV Captured Flying for the First Time (Nov 11 2025; Zhuhai 2018 debut; Feb 2024 testing concluded; maritime targeting). https://theaviationist.com/2025/11/12/chinas-ch-7-uav-captured-flying/
5. FlightGlobal — China reveals first flight of stealthy CH-7 UAV for long-range targeting mission. https://www.flightglobal.com/military-uavs/china-reveals-first-flight-of-stealthy-ch-7-uav-for-long-range-targeting-mission/165690.article
6. Defence Blog — China's CH-7 stealth drone completes maiden flight. https://defence-blog.com/chinas-ch-7-stealth-drone-completes-maiden-flight/
7. Defence Security Asia — China's CASC CH-7 flying-wing stealth UAV completes maiden flight. https://defencesecurityasia.com/en/china-casc-ch7-stealth-flying-wing-uav-maiden-flight-unmanned-air-warfare/
8. National Security Journal — China's CH-7 'Rainbow' stealth drone (deep-penetration ISR + strike; 2018 mockup debut). https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/chinas-ch-7-rainbow-stealth-drone-can-be-summed-up-in-just-4-words/
9. Wikipedia — CASC Rainbow (program history). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CASC_Rainbow
10. HSToday — Chinese CH-7 stealth bomber could threaten US bases and warships. https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/airport-aviation-security/chinese-ch-7-stealth-bomber-could-threaten-u-s-bases-and-warships/

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