A TB-001 Twin-Tailed Scorpion armed reconnaissance drone is on display at an unmanned intelligent equipment exhibition organized by PLA Joint Logistics Support Force in early 2022. Photo: Screenshot from CCTV

 
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Joint Logistics Support Force recently organized an unmanned intelligent equipment inspection event, gathering hundreds of arms companies to display their drone products, in a move analysts said on Monday to find the right equipment that can enhance the Chinese military's logistics support capabilities and boost the PLAs' overall combat capabilities.

The arms companies brought their independently developed unmanned equipment to the inspection, as the event organizer, the PLA Joint Logistics Support Force, evaluated the drones' performances in demonstration tests, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday.

During the evaluation, a type of drone helicopter was given a mission to evacuate a wounded soldier from the frontline to safety in a simulation exercise. In another test, a type of unmanned six-wheeled truck displayed its ability to rapidly transport 80 tons of munitions to the frontline thanks to its all-terrain designs, CCTV reported.

Other drones displayed at the event included fixed-wing aircraft, excavators and weapons stations, the report showed. Having given flight performances at Airshow China 2021, the TB-001 Twin-Tailed Scorpion armed reconnaissance drone joined the demonstration, carrying what seemed like precision munitions under its wings, but observers said that instead of explosives, they could contain supplies.

The PLA Joint Logistics Support Force has been actively exploring the application of unmanned intelligent technologies in fields like the transport of supplies, the transfer of the wounded and emergency search and rescue, CCTV reported, noting that drones can play irreplaceable roles in future battlefields thanks to their flexibility, efficiency and safety.

The event enabled the PLA Joint Logistics Support Force to discuss and communicate with the arms firms and study the demonstration performances, the report said.

The exhibition will allow the PLA Joint Logistics Support Force to find the drones that fit the force's operational requirements, and contracts could be awarded to outstanding ones, a military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Monday.

Not only state-owned arms firms but also many private companies can offer top-class drones, and this event gave the latter a good opportunity, the expert said.

It is also important for the users to have deeper communication with the developers, so both sides can better understand each other's needs and capabilities, the expert pointed out.

"By selecting mature and versatile unmanned intelligent support equipment, upgrading and improving equipment currently in service, as well as conducting forward research on such equipment, we are gradually developing a whole system of unmanned intelligent equipment," Lieutenant Colonel Zhang Qingguo, a staff officer at the equipment supply department affiliated with the PLA Joint Logistics Support Force's combat logistics branch, was quoted in the CCTV report as saying.