Drone Delivery Drill Amid Reports of China-India Disengagement

China has employed drones to deliver “care packages” consisting of food, water and medicines to its frontline troops stationed engaging in drills held likely in plateau areas amid clashes with India.

The drones were put to task by Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Tibet Military Command to provide logistics support for its troops currently stationed at an elevation of 4,500m where efforts to deliver the same using ground vehicles proved difficult, a video released by China Central Television, shows.

On Friday, the two sides agreed to quickly disengage from a months-long standoff at their long-disputed Himalayan border.

“Logistics (combing both ground and aerial means) such as those on display in the drill are key for soldiers’ performance in military conflicts. Logistics support can be very difficult in complex plateau areas,” Song Zhongping, a military expert told the Global Times on September 11.

“Drones can be employed to quickly make delivery at designated points, improving the PLA’s combat effectiveness,” Song said, adding that the “China is preparing for further potential military conflicts while continuing to engage in military and diplomatic negotiations with India.”

Earlier this week, the Chinese military’s 200-ton Y-20 plane airdropped hundreds of paratroopers besides multiple pieces of heavy equipment including 107mm multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRLs), Type-03 crawler-type paratrooper vehicles and armored vehicles in the Plateau region.