A key phase test of the world's first 500kg-class coaxial agricultural drone was successfully completed in Wenling, Zhejiang Province, China, marking a zero breakthrough in China's large-load agricultural dedicated drone field and providing a new efficient solution for agricultural material transportation and large-scale plant protection in hilly and mountainous areas. Developed under the leadership of the Wenling Agricultural Low-Altitude Economy Joint Research Center, the drone's biggest highlight is the adoption of a mature 1.5T automobile engine as its power core. Through an innovative integrated design of the fairing, fuel tank and main structure, it effectively reduces manufacturing costs while ensuring flight performance and structural strength. Test data show that the drone's trial load reaches 260kg, and it can fly continuously for 3.5 hours in a full-fuel and full-load state, with an operation radius of more than 120 kilometers and a maximum range of 400 kilometers, which can accurately match the actual operation needs such as long-distance agricultural material transportation and emergency prevention and control. Benefiting from Wenling's unique "government-industry-university-research" collaborative innovation system, the drone's R&D process has been significantly accelerated. After completing the current phase of testing, the model is planned to be mass-produced within 1 to 2 years. In the future, by equipping a dual-engine 3.0T power system, its load capacity is expected to be further increased to 1.5 tons, which will promote the transformation of agricultural production mode to a large-scale and intensive "agricultural industrial mode".
