Overview
- People’s Daily, citing developer AVIC, reported the maiden flight on Thursday in Shaanxi Province.
- Released specifications list a 16-ton maximum takeoff weight, 6,000 kg payload, 12-hour endurance, and roughly 7,000 km ferry range.
- An internal “isomerism-hive” module is described as capable of housing hundreds of small drones or loitering munitions for in-flight swarm release.
- CCTV says the aircraft has eight underwing hardpoints for guided bombs, air-to-air and anti-ship missiles, and loitering munitions, with mission pods that enable role changes in about two hours.
- AVIC and state media frame the platform for cargo, disaster relief, communications restoration, and surveys under China’s low-altitude economy initiative, and they have not provided a timeline for service entry.