China hawks new unmanned plateau helicopter drone; claims AR-500C a 'powerful addition'

As the situation along the India China border in Eastern Ladakh remains tense, Beijing has come up with a 'plateau-focused' unmanned helicopter to help PLA in "logistics missions and armed reconnaissance". China's first homemade unmanned helicopter focussing on high-altitude areas has successfully completed a maiden flight in a plateau region, its manufacturer said on Monday.

AR-500C can carry a payload of 80 kilograms

The AR-500C prototype completed its first plateau flight at the Daocheng Yading Airport, which is the world's highest civilian airport with an elevation of 4,411m, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) said in a statement. It said that this flight broke the record for the elevation at which a domestically built unmanned helicopter took off and landed.

During the 15-minute flight, the drone completed a series of tests including climbing, hovering, rotating and other operations manoeuvres, before steadily landing, AVIC said. This demonstrated the AR-500C's general ability to fly in all types of terrain, the company said.

An AVIC statement in May said the AR-500C drone will be used in missions including reconnaissance and communication relay, with optional functions including electronic disruption, target indication, fire strikes, cargo delivery, and nuclear radiation and chemical contamination reconnaissance. The Sunday's test flight showed that the AR-500C can carry a payload of 80 kilograms and fly for more than five hours at an altitude of 4,411m, Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece Global Times reported.

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'A powerful addition to PLA arsenal'?

The mouthpiece quoted an Indian media report which said that in its biggest military logistics operation in decades, the Indian Army has rushed weapons, fuel, food and winter supplies to the border region to maintain combat readiness through the treacherous winter that lasts about four months. It further said that to maintain logistics support in the difficult plateau terrain, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has adopted drones, including using them to deliver food, water and medicine.

The AR-500C could be a powerful addition to PLA arsenal, as it is expected to carry heavier payloads, have longer endurance, fly higher and be more versatile than the drones currently in service, a military expert who asked not to be identified told the Chinese daily on Monday. The Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA) have been locked in a tense standoff in multiple areas along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh since early May.

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