Most powerful cargo drone takes wing

The world's most powerful cargo drone, built by China North Industries Group Corp, conducted its first flight on Tuesday in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province.

A prototype of the Norinco Luca, also known as the Changying-8, took off at 9:30 am from Zhengzhou Shangjie Airport and remained airborne for about 30 minutes before landing at the same site. According to Norinco UAS, the drone's developer and a Beijing-based subsidiary of China North Industries Group Corp, engineers checked the model's flight control, avionics, electronic and power systems and achieved the desired results.

In a news release, it said that the entire flight had been controlled by the aircraft's intelligent systems and monitored by human controllers.

The Norinco Luca is 17 meters long with a wingspan of 25 meters, and has a takeoff weight of 7 metric tons.

The drone boasts a maximum payload capacity of 3.5 tons, equivalent to the total weight of 50 adults. It can carry over 1,700 cotton coats or 700 disaster-relief tents in a single trip, delivering supplies over long distances. It has a maximum range of more than 3,000 kilometers, which is roughly equivalent to a nonstop direct flight from Beijing to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

It can take off and land on runways shorter than 500 meters and can use poorly conditioned airports, such as those on plateaus and islands.

The aircraft is equipped with an 18-cubic-meter cargo bay that can be accessed from both the front and rear. According to its designers, the turnaround time can be as little as 15 minutes, greatly improving logistics turnover efficiency.

To ensure absolute operational safety, the Norinco Luca is fitted with two domestically built turboprop engines and incorporates multiple safety redundancies for key systems, including the flight control, navigation and power supply systems. The aircraft also features smart health monitoring and fault self-diagnosis functions.

Geng Jianzhong, the drone's chief designer, said that thanks to its modular design, high power supply, large payload capacity and standardized equipment interfaces, ground personnel can rapidly replace mission payloads on the drone, enabling it to be flexibly adapted for diverse scenarios such as cargo delivery, emergency communications, weather modification, border patrol and electronic reconnaissance.

Following the maiden flight, Geng said that his company will prioritize the drone's airworthiness certification, delivery and commercial operation, while continuing to develop safe, efficient and intelligent low-altitude transportation solutions.

"Based on this model, we plan to develop larger, smarter and more advanced drones in the future. We also plan to design unmanned helicopters with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities to provide integrated solutions for different scenarios and diverse transportation needs," he noted.