The first test flight was made by China’s giant cargo drone, named AT-200, with a maximum take-off weight of 3.4 tonnes from Neifu Airport, Pucheng, last weekend. The AT-200 can be included in the heavyweight category of unmanned aircraft, which is utilized for commercial applications. As per the briefing of the Institute of Engineering ThermoPhysics, It completed autonomous takeoff and landing with the endurance and range of 26 minutes, 200 meters. As per the technical characteristics, this unmanned aircraft can fly with a maximum speed of 313 km per hour, a range of 2,183 kilometers, and a 6,098-meter service ceiling.
Shipping cargo through drones can’t be considered a new idea because many of the drones previously supplied cargo but in very less quantities. The capacity of weight lifting or payload of these types of drones was very low. But in the future this giant air vehicle AT-200 could be capable of delivering tons of cargo to Chinese cities from rural areas.
The way to deliver the product to the customer newly defined by the CEO of JD.com, Richard Liu that rather than dropping cargo from the drone at the doorsteps, the delivery person will obtain the cargo from the drone, which comprises eight to fifteen ordered packages of the village people. At last, the delivery person will deliver the cargo to the people’s doors.
The utilization of drones for cargo delivery will surely come to be an actuality in the upcoming years. And this giant unmanned aircraft holds the capability to be the pillar of the game-changing era.
