A lemon-yellow "Blade" pilotless aircraft on display in the 16th Tianjin Trade Fair and Investment Talk in Tianjin on April 20, 2009. [File photo: enorth.com.cn]

"Blade", a new domestically-developed pilotless aircraft, was on display in a exhibition of emergency devices and security systems on June 16 in Beijing, China News Services reported. The aircraft was produced by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC) and attracted enormous public attention.

"Blade" has just finished a series of test flights in Tianjin. It is designed for aerial photography, aerial survey, meteorological observation, environmental monitoring, coast patrol, forest fire prevention, and inspection of petroleum pipelines and electricity cables.

Propelled by a 12-kw turboprop engine, the aircraft has a short deck, twin tail booms and a tricycle landing gear. The fuselage is 2.8 meters long and the wingspan is 3.98 meters. It can fly at a cruising speed of 120 km/hr to a maximum altitude of 4,000 meters. The maximum flight time achieved to date is three hours. The take-off distance required is 90 meters.

At the exhibition, CASIC also displayed the SH-1 multifunction pilotless aircraft, SH-3 low-speed light pilotless aircraft, TF-1D telemetering system for pilotless aircraft, and around 140 high-tech emergency and security devices it had provided to the earthquake-hit Sichuan Province, the Beijing Olympic Games, and the Beijing Paralympic Games last year.

CASIC President Xu Dazhe said that in recent years, the corporation had been focusing on aerospace defense services, information technology and equipment production both for military and civilian uses. However, military products remain the priority of the corporation.