By Niu Weimeng, Zhang Linghui and Li Yuewen
Yang Xiaopin, a technician assigned to a UAV company of a brigade under the PLA 73rd Group Army, recently completed an actual flight mission in strong wind with a new type of UAV, and obtained important flight data.
"The new UAV can fly out at any time, thanks to the appropriate site and logistic support provided by the air force station," Yang explained. "Now we have finished the verification of the new equipment’s flight parameters in short time."
In the past, it was not so easy for the army UAV Company to organize actual flight training. Yang introduced that after being transferred into the army brigade during the military reform, the UAV Company has lost the access to appropriate training ground. It became very difficult to carry out actual drone flight, thus causing great difficulty in obtaining data and following data verification.
"The site in need looks like a small airport, so to speak, covering an area of nearly 10,000 square meters with smooth road surface and visible view. However, it is really hard to achieve such conditions in the camp," said the company commander Jiang Kun.
At the beginning of 2022, the superior unit organized multi-level joint reconnaissance exercises involving various regions and combined arms. The brigade took the opportunity to report the difficulties faced by the UAV reconnaissance forces and their solutions, which got highly valued. In September, the company was allowed into an air force station for drone training.
From then on, the UAVs could be parked without disassembly and assembly, which reduced the dispatching time and equipment loss. Professional facilities and equipment were of great convenience to supporting UAV maintenance. Dedicated runways and training ground served to meet almost all needs in training. "You may feel like a bird freely flying across the sky," said the platoon leader Xiang Guodong excitedly.
"I hope this kind of training can become normal," said almost every soldier of the UAV Company.