"The government in Beijing is pushing for the development of unmanned transport aircraft. Now a machine has completed a test flight that is supposed to be able to carry two tons of goods.
China has tested the world's largest commercial cargo drone. This can carry two tons of goods, Chinese media reported. The first flight on Sunday lasted 20 minutes. With a wingspan of around 16 meters and a height of 4.6 meters, the aircraft built by the state-funded company Tengden is slightly larger than the world's most popular light aircraft, the four-seater Cessna 172. The government in Beijing has been pushing for the development of drones for some time, not least for military purposes. The country is already an international leader.
In June, a drone called the HH-100 took off for its first flight. This unmanned aircraft can transport 700 kilograms of cargo up to a distance of 520 kilometers. Next year, the TP2000 cargo drone is scheduled to take off for a test flight. which is designed to transport a two-ton payload over a distance of 2000 kilometers.
Drones are already being used in China, among other things, to transport fresh fruit from the island of Hainan to the mainland. Last year, more than 2000 companies were registered in China that were involved in the development of drones. The leader is the DJI group, the largest drone manufacturer in the world.
Europeans are also getting involved in the drone business
But interest in cargo drones is not only growing in China. In Europe, for example, the Bulgarian start-up Dronamics has big plans in this field. The brothers Svilen and Konstantin Rangelow founded their company around ten years ago. They were inspired by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who announced his entry into the cargo drone business in 2013.
The Bulgarians have now developed their own aircraft. It is called "Black Swan", in reference to events referred to in the economy as such, which should not actually occur because they seem too unlikely, but then do happen. The start-up has had its own airline license since May 2022. The official start of flight operations was planned for the first quarter of this year.
The initial area of operation will be Greece. "There are many inhabited islands there that are only rarely supplied and at high cost," Rangelow told the F.A.Z. in autumn 2023. Rangelow wants to fill this gap with their unmanned drone. The Black Swan can transport up to 350 kilograms of cargo in one flight, and the range is stated to be an impressive 2500 kilometers." [1]
1. China testet global größte Frachtdrohne. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (online) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. Aug 12, 2024.
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