Cargo drone joins the Chinese military in training exercise

Early this month, the Xining Joint Logistic Support Center undertook a training exercise that saw a brand-new cargo drone join in on the action. The drone has been designed to haul goods and supplies to hard-to-access areas.

China’s cargo drone in action

The cargo drone takes on the design of a helicopter and is just taller than a person standing meaning it is perfect for accessing tight areas where there wouldn’t be enough space for a runway. It is also perfect for hard-to-access locations that would either take a lot longer to reach by land or might be completely unreachable by land.

The introduction of the drone has been to ensure the “force that can be trusted by the party and the people.”

The Chinese military plan on using the drone to deliver supplies and aid to soldiers posted in hard-to-access areas. The drone will also be used to deliver humanitarian supplies in natural disasters with the ability to respond a lot quicker than manned aircraft or ground teams.

The exact nature of the military training is unclear but it is likely that an exercise that mimicked a real life operation where soldiers are posted in hard-to-access or environments that are too dangerous to have manned cargo operations take place.

China’s drone focus

This is the latest move from China in a long list of drone related pushes from the country, proving the ever-growing role of drones in the military. A research lab in the country recently completed a successful ignition test of a drone engine capable of powering 1.5 to 4 ton military drones.

Not long before that, a drone mothership was unveiled during an airshow which has the capability to release a swarm of smaller drones designed to gather intelligence on targets as well as strike targets.

Image by Meng Zhao