China’s Wing Loong UAV capable of facilitating emergency communications
The universal platform of the Chinadeveloped Wing Loong-1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has been tested and determined fit to facilitate space-airground emergency communications, according to its developer.
The Wing Loong-1 universal platform has successfully passed a series of tests in an airfield in Northwest China, said state-owned plane maker Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
The Wing Loong-1 UAV universal platform was loaded with wireless communication base station equipment, and hovered at an altitude of 3-5 kilometers across a radius of 3 kilometers during the tests.
It provided prolonged and stable coverage over 50 square kilometers with continuous mobile signal, a domestic record high for air-to-ground coverage from an airborne base station.
The successful tests proved the Wing Loong-1 universal platform is fully capable of emergency communication and relay functions when loaded with base station and satellite communication (SATCOM) equipment, said AVIC.
It also showed that the Wing Loong-1 universal platform is capable of providing space-air-ground emergency communication support amid communication interruptions under emergency conditions.
The Wing Loong series UAVs were developed by the AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute (AVIC CADI).
They were designed as high-capacity, medium-altitude and long-endurance unmanned vehicles.
The Wing Loong-1 universal platform, China’s first all-composite-material multi-role UAV, was jointly developed by AVIC CADI, the AVIC Unmanned Aerial System Corporation and multiple Chinese mobile operators.
The UAV platform can provide spaceair-ground communications for periods of 35 working hours per unit. It is capable of providing communication services in severe weather and amid harsh conditions.
It can play an important role in emergency communications when groundbased communication facilities are destroyed by fire, earthquakes, floods or other natural disasters or emergency conditions.
Moreover, it is capable of providing communication services in remote and other special areas, with all-weather communications and data transmission.
The design and development of the platform reflects China’s pledge to boost the construction of new infrastructure for high-end aviation technologies. It is expected to help strengthen China’s aviation emergency-rescue capability, said AVIC.