China completes its largest comprehensive emergency rescue aviation exercise

On 27 October, China hosted the country’s largest comprehensive emergency rescue aviation exercise.

It was organized by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and was held in Jingmen, in Central China’s Hubei Province.

The training courses completed on the day comprised disaster reconnaissance, situation monitoring, relay communication, precise firefighting, and medical rescue.

A Wing Loong-1E drone, equipped with high-definition optoelectronic reconnaissance equipment, multi-function radar, and emergency communication support pods hovered in the mission area after thick smoke rose from a simulated fire scene.

The drone transmitted real-time images of the area, providing support for the onsite command post. Then it acted as an airborne base station, restoring mobile public network signals that were disrupted by the fire.

Two AG600M firefighter aircraft, an MA60 firefighter aircraft and an AC313 firefighter helicopter carried out a total of eight water-dropping firefighting missions, dropping a total of 70 tons of water.

“In recent years, major forest fires have occurred frequently in various places, and the country’s demand for major aviation emergency rescue equipment has become more urgent,” Zhao Yuhe, Deputy General Manager of AVIC General Huanan Aircraft Industry Co, told Global Times at the exercise. “We are accelerating the development of the AG600M firefighter aircraft. The aircraft is now ready to carry out fire extinguishing tasks.”