The first flight of the domestically-made large unmanned transport aircraft brings new breakthroughs
2024-08-16
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First flight picture. (Source: Tengdun Technology)
Our reporter Fan WeiOn August 11, the large twin-engine unmanned transport aircraft independently developed by my country conducted its first flight test at Fengming General Aviation Airport in Zigong, Sichuan, and the maiden flight was a complete success. According to the Global Times reporter, this unmanned transport aircraft with a loading space of 12 cubic meters and a commercial load capacity of 2 tons is the largest large unmanned transport aircraft currently developed in China in accordance with market demand. The entire aircraft has achieved national production. The complete success of this maiden flight marks that my country has made new breakthroughs in the field of low-altitude economy to achieve high-level self-reliance and self-improvement in large unmanned transport aircraft."This large twin-engine unmanned transport aircraft has a wingspan of 16.1 meters, a length of 13.9 meters, a height of 4.6 meters, a service ceiling of 7,000 meters and a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers. It is the largest and domestically produced large unmanned transport aircraft currently being developed in China in accordance with market demand." A relevant person in charge of Sichuan Tengdun Science and Technology Co., Ltd., which is responsible for the research and development of this type of UAV, said in an interview with the Global Times that the characteristics of this type of UAV are large load capacity, large space, easy loading and unloading, high reliability, high safety and high intelligence. The successful maiden flight of this type of UAV will provide new transportation power for my country to build a new air cargo system, expand new air cargo scenarios, and create a new low-altitude economic smart logistics business.As a strategic emerging industry, the low-altitude economy includes both traditional general aviation and low-altitude production services supported by drones. It is widely used in industries such as industry, agriculture, and services, and plays an important role in building a modern industrial system. Among them, the logistics and distribution field is considered by the industry to be one of the fields in the low-altitude economy that is most likely to be the first to achieve large-scale applications. The above-mentioned relevant person in charge introduced that the three-level system of "trunk-branch-terminal" has become the consensus and direction of the development of the logistics drone industry, which is also an effective means to achieve "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" in air cargo transportation."The successful maiden flight of the unmanned transport aircraft under development has proved the feasibility of large-scale commercialization of unmanned branch logistics from the product side. It can also promote and drive changes in technologies such as autonomous driving, mission planning, trunk and branch line docking, and communication navigation that are more in line with the domestic branch logistics usage environment." An industry insider told the Global Times reporter.Previously, many types of unmanned transport aircraft in my country have achieved successful maiden flights. On June 18, 2022, the TP500 unmanned transport aircraft developed by the Aviation Industry First Flight Institute achieved its first flight. The aircraft can meet the standard load of 500 kg and unmanned aerial cargo coverage within a radius of 500 kilometers, with a maximum range of 1,800 kilometers. It is a general-purpose large-load unmanned transport platform. On June 12 this year, the HH-100 UAV independently developed by Aviation Industry Xi'an Aircraft Corporation successfully completed its maiden flight. The maximum take-off weight of this type of UAV reaches 2,000 kg, the commercial load capacity is 700 kg, the range when fully loaded can reach 520 kilometers, the maximum cruising speed is 300 kilometers per hour, and the maximum operating altitude is 5,000 meters. This type of UAV will be positioned as the main application scenario for feeder logistics, and can also be expanded to forest and grassland fire fighting, rescue material delivery, emergency relay communications, and artificial weather modification. Many other fields.The large twin-engine unmanned transport aircraft that successfully completed its maiden flight not only has a 2-ton commercial load capacity, but also has the ability to be deployed in various complex terrains, as well as advantages in all-weather, high-frequency cargo transportation capabilities. The above-mentioned relevant person in charge introduced that this large twin-engine unmanned transport aircraft has a short take-off and landing distance and outstanding plateau performance. It can be safely deployed and used at most general aviation airports in the country. This type of drone has a high flight altitude, strong climbing and obstacle crossing capabilities, and a service ceiling of 7,000 meters, which is suitable for most air cargo scenarios at home and abroad. This type of drone also has the advantage of long transportation distances. The maximum range design of 2,000 kilometers can meet the needs of more than 90% of the world's feeder transportation. In addition, this type of drone has high transportation safety and is the first in the industry to adopt fire prevention and anti-icing design to meet the requirements of air cargo transportation."Specifically, the research and development of this type of large unmanned transport aircraft is mainly aimed at feeder logistics scenarios of 600 to 1,800 kilometers." The relevant person in charge said that this setting first solves the problem of insufficient commercial carrying capacity or range of similar products on the market. Second, the cargo compartment volume of the unmanned transport aircraft is the largest in its class, and the utilization rate of loading space is increased by 15%. At the same time, it can be adapted to standard cargo boxes, and can be efficiently connected to trunk transportation without disassembly, and loading and unloading can be completed within 15 minutes. In addition, the unmanned transport aircraft has a high level of intelligence. For conventional transport flight missions, more than 90% of the functions can be achieved with one click, which has a very strong practical significance for the promotion and popularization of unmanned transport aircraft.Unlike "reverse" modification and processing based on other existing aircraft models, "forward development" that is independently designed and developed from "0" is considered to be a major advantage of China's UAV industry. The time from development to the first flight of this large unmanned transport aircraft took only more than a year, which is also a "miniature" of the rapid development of China's UAV technology.The above-mentioned person in charge said that from a technical perspective, this large unmanned transport aircraft did not present too many difficult problems. The biggest difficulty was the need to redesign an unmanned transport aircraft specifically for the needs and habits of air cargo use. "In this process, we used all-composite materials in the entire aircraft structure to reduce the weight of the drone and give more space and weight to the cargo that needs to be carried. In addition, we also used our latest autonomous driving technology to achieve one-click operation, effectively improving the convenience of using the drone, which is far more challenging to product design and implementation capabilities than modifying and upgrading the original model."According to the Global Times, domestic drone manufacturers have successively announced a series of products of drone transport systems of 5 tons, 10 tons and above to meet the market's demand for large-scale, intelligent, low-cost and high-reliability drone transport aircraft. ▲
