MK sports Korea CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft takes part in a full-load taxiing test under full working conditions in Zhanghe Airport in Jingmen, Central China's Hubei Province on January 20, 2025. Photo: Courtesy of Gu Fenghao" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-01-23/82b6de93-8570-4160-83d4-fb3392a0d37a.jpeg" />

The CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft takes part in a full-load taxiing test under full working conditions in Zhanghe Airport in Jingmen, Central China's Hubei Province on January 20, 2025. Photo: Courtesy of Gu Fenghao

China's new-generation CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft on Monday completed a full-load taxiing test under full working conditions in Zhanghe Airport in Jingmen, Central China's Hubei Province. This cargo drone has been described as a "pickup truck in the air," and will hopefully provide a new logistics solution to "remote regions that lack free shipping."

The Global Times noted that the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft adopts a typical transport aircraft design with two engines and a high wing. In order to ensure that the cargo can be conveniently and efficiently delivered to the cabin, it is equipped with an upward-flipping nose door. It is also equipped with a belly hatch, which can be used for special needs such as emergency airdrops, pesticide spraying or firefighting.

Huang Wei from Aerospace CH UAV Co Ltd told the Global Times that the taxiing test is a landmark mission node following the advent of the unmanned transport aircraft. Generally speaking, important mission nodes in aircraft development, including unmanned aerial vehicles, include low-speed and high-speed taxiing, first flight, flights with different mission loads, verification test and demonstration flight.

Huang said that unlike the taxiing and flight tests of manned aircraft, which rely on test pilots, comparable tests of the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft rely on autonomous program control. The operator only needs to upload relevant instructions to the drone, which can interpret the route information and taxiing runway information by itself and make corresponding actions according to the actual situation. 

As a result, the taxiing test for the drone has very high requirements for the reliability of related control programs and equipment. At present, the control system of the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft mainly comes from the mature technology of the CH-3D armed reconnaissance drone, which includes a variety of protection measures, so the overall performance is very reliable, according to Huang.

The CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft project was launched in March 2024. Based on the rich experience of the Chinese Academy of Aerospace and Aerodynamics' Aerospace CH UAV Co Ltd with unmanned aircraft, the drone applied many mature technologies and products on the shelf. A prototype of the drone was publicly displayed during the Zhuhai Airshow in November last year, and it has now smoothly completed its taxiing test in a sign of rapid progress.

After the taxiing test, the project team will further optimize and test the unmanned transport aircraft to ensure that its performance is more stable and reliable before conducting the first test flight. 

Huang said that the precautions for drone test flights are slightly different from those for manned aircraft, and more attention is paid to the reliability of the equipment. During the first flight, the drone will place greater emphasis on environmental safety and try to eliminate unfavorable and interfering factors. When other conditions are ripe, the takeoff and landing tests in harsh field environments will be carried out.

Huang explained that the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft has corresponding defense measures against hacker attacks, including the use of a dedicated radio communication network. 

In recent years, there have been frequent cases of drones being interfered with, an eventuality that Huang said the CH-YH1000 unmanned transport aircraft is also prepared for. One of the protection measures that has been adopted allows the drone to return to the departure airport along the originally set response route if it encounters interference and loses contact with the ground command center.

 "The unmanned transport aircraft we developed is like a 'pickup truck in the air.' We hope to achieve efficient air transportation at only a slightly higher cost than land transportation, meet the logistics needs of remote areas, and solve the problem of high delivery fees and slow delivery time in regions such as Xizang and Xinjiang," Huang said.

He said that in the future, towns and villages with inconvenient land transportation can rely on unmanned transport aircraft to fill the shortfall, improve their express delivery distribution systems, and promote the convenience of online shopping.

In addition, the CH-YH1000 drone relies on sensors to fly autonomously, which means it makes little difference whether it flies during the day or at night. Therefore, this unmanned transport aircraft, with its large transport capacity of 1,000 kilograms, can operate in the second half of the night when there is no civil aviation activity to achieve high-density air transport. It will bring new solutions to fields such as logistics, emergency rescue and military supply, and will strongly promote the development of China's unmanned transport aircraft industry and inject new vitality into the development of the country's low-altitude economy.