China's AVIC completes onboard testing flight for shipborne unmanned helicopter

A research institute of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has successfully conducted an onboard testing flight on its shipborne unmanned helicopter AR-500BJ, media reported Saturday.

During the test, AR-500BJ successfully finished courses like shipborne taking off and landing, which demonstrated a new breakthrough of the development of the helicopter and enhanced the technical basis for the system to be deployed in deepwater, media said.

AVIC kicked off the project in 2017 to adjust the AR-500 for shipborne platform. The recent successful flight indicated a satisfactory completion of the project. 

Lightweight shipborne unmanned helicopters like AR-500BJ can be used for both military and civilian applications, such as maritime search and rescue, patrolling and investigation, experts said.  

In December 2020, China's first domestically developed vessel-borne lightweight helicopter drone AR-500B made its maiden flight, making up for China's lack of a type of ship-based lightweight helicopter drone.