The Chinese PLA recently completed a logistic support exercise by the Guilin Joint Logistic Support Centre in southwest China at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters above sea level in the autumn of 2020.
The recent exercise was aimed at strengthening and improving PLA drone transportation and delivery support modes. To adapt to the future trend of unmanned and intelligent battlefields and meet the support needs of supply, transportation, repair and rescue, the Guilin Joint Logistic Support Center used several types of drones over the course of the integrated delivery exercise in complex terrains such as mountains and forests.
During the exercise, an army brigade that was manoeuvring to a predetermined area, encountered sudden equipment failure, wherein, the diesel filter of an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) needed immediate replacement.
The PLA command post immediately dispatched a drone to deliver parts. “In complex terrains, using drones to deliver urgently needed materials will greatly improve the support efficiency,” a leader of the transportation and delivery office of the centre said.
The PLA also deployed drones to carry out drills of single-point-to-multi-point delivery, single-point-to-single-point precision delivery, and multi-point to single-point direct delivery to send urgently needed materials to front-line troops, including self-heating food, medical supplies, and equipment accessories.
Drones were also used by the PLA to treat wounded on the battlefield.
In one exercise a PLA soldier during the exercise, was simulated to be bitten by a venomous snake and urgently needed antivenom.
An intelligent delivery system that made use of drones was utilised and after a short while, a drone carrying the life-saving antivenom and medical supplies took off smoothly in the rain and flew to the designated area
Earlier, it would have taken two hours for vehicles to deliver life-saving anti-venom through mountain roads, but in took only 17 minutes to deliver the materials by a drone.
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