China’s HH-200 Large Cargo UAV Completes First Flight

The HH-200, unmanned aerial transport system, successfully completed its maiden flight on Wednesday morning in Pucheng, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, marking new progress for China in the development of large unmanned cargo aircraft.

Developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the aircraft performed steadily with all systems functioning properly, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The HH-200 will fly border, coastal and cross-border feeder freight routes, inland point-to-point small cargo logistics, inter-island transport in Southeast Asia, and the air cargo networks of the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. In the future, it can be quickly adapted for multiple missions. 

The drone has a cargo hold volume of 12 cubic meters, expandable to 18 cubic meters, with a maximum payload of 1.5 tons, a top cruising speed of 310 km/h and a maximum range of 2,360 km.

The HH-200 is equipped with fully intelligent autonomous flight and AI-based obstacle avoidance capabilities.

It boasts a service life of 50,000 flight hours or 15,000 takeoffs and landings, with a lifecycle operating cost of 4.7 yuan ($0.69) per ton-kilometer.

It can take off and land on 500-meter runways and plateaus above 4,200 meters, and withstand  temperatures ranging from -40C to 50C, enabling it to overcome transportation barriers in mountainous, island, snow-covered and high-altitude regions to build efficient low-altitude logistics channels.