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China successfully tests pilotless helicopter launched from ship

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Jack Lau, South China Morning Post

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The helicopter took off from a ship moored near the port of Qingdao. Photo: Weibo via South China Morning Post" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/07/24/20220724-helicopter-weibo.jpg"/><figcaption>The helicopter took off from a ship moored near the port of Qingdao. Photo: Weibo via South China Morning Post</figcaption></figure></div>A Chinese-made pilotless helicopter has made a successful test flight after lifting off from a ship in the port city of Qingdao, state broadcaster CCTV has reported.The test flight of the AR-500BJ, developed by the helicopter research arm of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, paves the way for small autonomous helicopters to operate in the deep seas, CCTV said on Friday.While state media and Avic have hailed the flight as a significant breakthrough, the aviation giant has not given details of its technology and a military analyst said such autonomous helicopters had few defence applications.“In this demonstration and operation at sea, the AR-500BJ completed smoothly flight items such as surface take-off and landing, marking a new and important breakthrough in the development of this type of unmanned helicopter,” Avic said in a statement on WeChat.The helicopter weighs 500kg (1,102lbs), according to CCTV. The helicopter was equipped with a Chinese-made heavy fuel engine and modified fuel-burning, structural, electric and flight control systems to adapt to the small parking area on a ship.The helicopter was also designed to withstand “complex electromagnetic environments” – a military situation where electromagnetic signals hamper the ability to monitor the battlefield.But it is not clear what military functions, if any, it might carry out.“The military use of autonomous helicopters is unclear,” said Zhou Chenming, a researcher at the Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank in Beijing. “There’s no clear military use for them, even globally.”He said fixed-winged drones had greater range and speed as well as being cheaper to operate.The United States Navy has used RQ-8 autonomous helicopters for intelligence-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance, but is more reliant on smaller, fixed-wing drones such as the ScanEagle designed by Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary.Zhou also warned that AR-500BJ’s complex structure would make repairs difficult.Avic’s helicopter arm said it took up the project in 2017 to test how well the AR-500 can adapt to being operated on ships and on the ground, as part of a national key research and development project.The test on Friday spelled the end to the involvement of the helicopter arm, it said.The AR-500BJ project officially began in 2018 and the helicopter made its first flight off a ground base two years later.China has been actively developing drones for both civilian and military use, to improve logistics and deployment flexibility.Chinese-made military drones have also been popular with countries, such as Algeria and Egypt, because they are less costly than American and European drones.

State media hailed the flight in the port city of Qingdao as a breakthrough that would pave the way for such vehicles to operate in the deep seas. Reports hinted at a possible military role but analyst expresses skepticism about its use on the battlefield.

China successfully tests pilotless helicopter launched from ship

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China successfully tests pilotless helicopter launched from ship

Jack Lau,

South China Morning Post

Published Jul 24, 2022 10:19 AM PHT

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South China Morning Post

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