The world's largest unmanned cargo aircraft, Baiwei Route W5000, which made its debut at the 2024 Zhuhai Airshow, has recently completed the delivery of engineering trial units for its avionics and flight control systems. Relevant reports indicate that the technology is 100% self-controlled by China. Moreover, mainland military experts claim that W5000 can be used for both military and civilian purposes and can transport supplies across the Taiwan Strait.

According to comprehensive reports from CCTV News and IT Home, the W5000 large unmanned cargo aircraft, with a maximum takeoff weight of 10.8 tons, a commercial payload capacity of 5 tons, and a maximum range of 2,600 kilometers, has become the unmanned cargo aircraft model with the largest carrying capacity and longest range in the world.

Of particular note is that this drone is equipped with two AEP100 engines independently developed by the Aviation Power Corporation of China, a 900-kilowatt-class civil turboprop engine, meeting the power requirements for single-engine or twin-engine general aircraft or drones weighing between 2 to 5 tons or 5 to 10 tons.

Baiwei Route jointly announced with the Computing Research Institute of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China on April 30th that the engineering trial units for the avionics and flight control systems of W5000 were successfully delivered. According to reports, the avionics system and flight control system delivered this time are the core control hubs of W5000, "achieving a 100% breakthrough in self-control technology."

Although mainland media often introduce W5000 in civilian fields such as "low-altitude economy," mainland military expert Fu Qianshao, deputy editor of the "Aviation Magazine" under the Communist Party of China's Air Force, believes that the high performance and multi-functionality of the aircraft indicate that it will play an irreplaceable role in future national defense and civilian sectors in mainland China, and "will be very useful when unifying Taiwan."

Fu Qianshao previously analyzed on his Toutiao account that if W5000 is used for military material transportation in border regions, it could greatly reduce the logistics costs of the military; especially in the China-India border area, using unmanned transport aircraft to construct logistics supply networks would be much faster than other methods.

He further mentioned that once the mainland initiates a unification action, the logistical support pressure needed by the People's Liberation Army on the island of Taiwan can also be built through unmanned transport aircraft. He claimed that transporting supplies across the Taiwan Strait by unmanned transport aircraft not only significantly reduces the risks for amphibious vessels but also allows for faster direct delivery of supplies to the rear areas of combat zones.

Fu Qianshao stated that unmanned transport aircraft, due to their lack of pilots and lower transportation costs, have more important strategic significance. Transporting four tons at a time means that ammunition supply tasks can also be carried out by transport aircraft.

The size of the W5000 drone is comparable to that of the U.S. Navy's C-2 carrier-based transport aircraft, with a maximum takeoff weight less than half of the C-2 and a load capacity exceeding that of the C-2 by 500 kilograms, and a faster flight speed. Fu Qianshao said that this also means that if China develops this drone into a carrier-based model, it could provide rapid logistics support services for aircraft carriers.

The Baiwei Route W5000 was assembled and launched at the Changzhou production base on October 18, 2024. The aircraft's airworthiness application has already been accepted by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and the first aircraft is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2026.

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7500039847139197452/

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