China

The largest courier company in China, SF Holding Co. was granted a government license to operate drones, opening up the possibility for parcel deliveries by drone. More than 40 billion packages were shipped around China in 2017 and that number is expected to rise to 49 billion in 2018 according to the State Post Bureau, China’s delivery-industry watchdog.

Expand
Expanding
Close

A few weeks ago, during a press event in China, Shenzhen-based DJI Technology Co. Ltd. announced three new agricultural drones: the MG-1S Advanced, the MG-1P, and the MG-1P RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) version. These drones can be used for monitoring crops as well as spraying pesticides. DJI will price these new unmanned aerial vehicles 12% less expensive than their previous models launched in November 2016. These new low prices have drawn the attention from competitors who have stated that the Chinese drone maker is “disturbing the industry.”

Expand
Expanding
Close

The first ever FAI World Fly-In Expo was held from November 4 to 7, in Wuhan, China. The show featured hundreds of aircraft, including jets, helicopters, hot air balloons and of course drones. According to an article in the NY Times, the drones were actually the stars of the event.

Expand
Expanding
Close

After this holiday shopping season, there will be more drones in the hands of consumers than ever before. Governments and aviation authorities around the world are concerned that the increase in the number of amateur drone pilots will lead to more drone incidents, such as drone sightings close to airports, near-misses and potentially more actual drone and airplane collisions. This raises the question, how much damage a drone would cause to an airplane in case of a collision? Scientists have used computer simulations to try and answer this question.

The Chinese aviation authorities went one step further and created an actual cockpit mockup, mounted it to a rocket and launched it at a drone at the usual airplane speed.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Two days ago we reported about the new DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone being spotted at an event in China. Today we can confirm that this drone is not some photoshopped Phantom, as some people on social media seem to believe, but that it is indeed a new DJI drone. The drone was shown at an official DJI event in China where two new agricultural drones, the MG-1S Advanced and the MG-1P, were announced. 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Drone taxi EHang 184 was introduced at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province in China on December 4, 2017. The drone taxi has automatic navigation and can take off and land vertically. No runway needed.

Expand
Expanding
Close

China accuses India of invading Chinese airspace with a drone days before the Chinese minister Wang Yi is supposed to visit New Delhi. India’s Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that it had lost control over the drone and that Indian border security personnel alerted their Chinese counterparts immediately.

Expand
Expanding
Close

In the not so distant future, not only will cargo move on the ground on autonomous trucks but more valuable time sensitive goods will move through the air with automated UAV transport as well. China is ahead of the game here and this week tested what is believed to be the largest capacity civilian drone in northwest Shaanxi Province Thursday.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Chinese power companies have found a more effective, but not necessarily a cleaner way, to remove trash hanging from power lines. The simply use flame-throwing drones to burn the trash off. According to Mashable, people have reported seeing these drones burning off items such as balloons and kites tangled up in the wires, out of reach of the maintenance crews.

Expand
Expanding
Close