Tengden describes its new cargo-carrying UAV as the largest twin-engine unmanned transport aircraft under development in China. (Janes)
China's Tengden aircraft manufacturer has unveiled and test-flown a new cargo-carrying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that the company says can transport two tonnes of supplies over long distances.
The UAV flew for 20 minutes during its maiden flight on 11 August at Zigong, Sichuan province, Tengden said in a release on the same day.
Although the company (known in its full form as Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation) has stressed the civilian applications of the new UAV, the development is of relevance to the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Janes assesses. A company official also told state-owned media on 13 August that “multiple variants” of the UAV will be developed “to meet different demands”.
Images of the aircraft in flight show that it is equipped with fixed tricycle landing gear. According to Tengden, the UAV has a length of 13.9 m and a wingspan of 16.1 m. The company describes the UAV (which does not yet have a designation) as “currently the largest domestically produced twin-engine unmanned transport aircraft in China that is under development in accordance with market demand”.
Tengden claimed that the UAV has 12 m 3 of loading space and a commercial load-carrying capacity of two tonnes. According to Tengden, the UAV is capable of “easy loading and unloading”. The aircraft appears to have large dorsal, side-opening doors.
The UAV is being developed to achieve a service ceiling of 7,000 m and a maximum range of 2,000 km, the company added. A dome in the upper-front section of the aircraft's fuselage could house antennas associated with a satellite communications (satcom) system to support long-range, beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) operations.
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