A large fixed-wing drone, the FP-985 "Taurus," which takes off from Mainling Airport in Nyingchi, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Wednesday, carrying products such as camellia oil and yak dairy products, safely lands at Yongchang Airport in Mianyang, Sichuan, after completing a one-way flight of over 1,100 kilometers. Photo: Xinhua News Agency

A large fixed-wing drone, the FP-985 "Taurus," which had taken off from Mainling Airport in Nyingchi, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Wednesday, carrying products such as camellia oil and yak dairy products, safely landed at Yongchang Airport in Mianyang, Sichuan, after completing a one-way flight of over 1,100 kilometers, Xinhua News Agency reported.

This flight marks the first validation flight of a large drone logistics route in China's plateau regions, laying a solid foundation for building an efficient and stable low-altitude logistics network in the western high-altitude areas.

The drone has a maximum takeoff weight of 5.7 tons, an effective commercial payload of over 2 tons, and a ferry range exceeding 2,000 kilometers, according to Aerospace Times Feipeng, a company established under the initiative of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The large fixed-wing drone was independently developed in China, and designed for special geographic environments such as plateaus, islands, and remote areas. 

It is capable of long-range material transportation and delivery in extreme environments, including high-altitude cold regions and island salt-fog conditions.

The report said it supports short-distance takeoffs and landings at standard airports but can also be flexibly deployed at makeshift airports, featuring key capabilities such as anti-icing, lightning protection, and high wind resistance, enabling all-weather continuous flight.

The construction of a low-altitude logistics corridor in the Sichuan-Xizang region represents an important new domain and high-quality means of promoting regional economic development in the western regions and ensuring the capacity for major engineering projects and emergency responses, the Xinhua report said.

Global Times