SAIC LE-500 Xiaoying - program supplier guide | Airframer

SAIC LE-500 Xiaoying

In production

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Family of four seat, low wing single piston light aircraft. Variants include armed military version LE500M and Pathfinder Star (UAV) (possibly also called Kitty Hawk 500 UAV).

Lift type

Fixed wing

Assembly

Factory-built

Control

Piloted, Autonomous

Engine type

Piston

Application

Business, Surveillance, Touring, Trainer, Utility

Design & construction

The aircraft as engineered: what it is built from, the systems it flies with, and its configuration — each box a theme.

Airframe & structure

Primary structure

Composite

Wing

Composite

Landing gear

Fixed tricycle

Ice protection

None

Pressurisation

Unpressurised

Systems & avionics

Flight controls

Mechanical

Configuration & certification

Wing position

Low

Planform

Straight

Tail

Conventional

continued

Certification

Part 23

Minimum crew

Notable technologies — each tag names a technology on our research record for this aircraft, with its fitting status: Primary, Standard, Option or Planned.

Composite wing (primary structure) Primary Composite fuselage (primary structure) Primary

Technical reference compiled with AI research; a value appears only where two independent research passes and a web fact-check agree. Gaps are deliberate.

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Type variants

Variant	Launch / first flight	Production end	Notes
SAIC LE-500	2006 / 2003		Production: 3 (2021). Four-seat side by side surveillance aircraft, also known as the Kitty Hawk.

Airframer

Shijiazhuang Aircraft Industry Co. (SAIC)

Other aircraft programs

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Information on this page is compiled from a variety of published sources; links do not necessarily imply recommendation or confirmation by the airframe manufacturer.