How Will China’s “Jiutian” Drone Advance Large-Scale Civil and Industrial Applications?
- Technology & Innovation
By
Updated December 12, 2025
On December 11, the “Jiutian” drone, designed by Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s First Aircraft Institute and commissioned by Shaanxi Unmanned Equipment Technology Co., successfully completed its maiden flight in Pucheng, Shaanxi.
The “Jiutian” is a domestically developed large-scale general-purpose drone featuring a “universal platform + modular payload” design. It offers key advantages including heavy load capacity, high ceiling, wide speed range, and short takeoff and landing. The drone is 16.35 meters long with a 25-meter wingspan, has a maximum takeoff weight of 16 tons, can carry up to 6,000 kilograms, fly for 12 hours, and reach a ferry range of 7,000 kilometers, placing it among the top performers in its category.
With modular payloads, “Jiutian” can serve diverse civil applications such as transporting heavy goods and delivering precise logistics to remote mountains or islands, rapidly restoring communications and delivering disaster relief equipment in emergencies, and providing services like geographic surveying, disaster assessment, and mineral exploration. It can also support cultural relic surveying, maritime law enforcement, and forest firefighting.
The successful first flight of “Jiutian” marks a breakthrough in China’s large-scale drone technology. Its widespread adoption is expected to accelerate integration between industrial and innovation chains, boost low-altitude economic productivity, and drive high-quality growth in the aviation sector.
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