This aircraft has distinct characteristics such as large payload, high service ceiling, wide speed range and short takeoff and landing. It is 16.35 metres long, has a wingspan of 25 metres, a maximum takeoff weight of 16 tonnes, a payload capacity of 6 tonnes, a flight time of 12 hours and a range of 7,000 kilometres.

The successful maiden flight marks a new breakthrough in China’s large-scale UAV technology. The Jiutian UAV was designed by the First Aircraft Design and Research Institute of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), commissioned by Shaanxi Unmanned Equipment Technology Co., Ltd.

AVIC explains that through modular payload replacement, the Jiutian UAV can be widely adapted to diverse civilian scenarios: it can undertake heavy material transportation and precise logistics delivery in remote mountainous areas and islands, quickly restore communication and deliver disaster relief equipment in emergency rescue and provide services such as geographic surveying, disaster assessment and mineral exploration. According to state-media CCTV television videos, the Jiutian UAV’s primary application would be military.

Two highly experienced suppliers

As a major enterprise in China’s carbon fibre materials field, Guangwei Composite Materials provided material support for this drone, contributing to the development of China’s high-end equipment with its core technologies. Currently, the company can provide a full-chain product and technical service for various application fields, ranging from carbon fibre and prepreg to composite material products and production equipment.

In recent years, Guangwei Composites has actively developed its unmanned composite material business based on its own carbon fibre and composite material industry chain advantages. With the ability to supply from carbon fibre and prepreg to the development of composite parts and complete assembly, the company boasts extensive experience in drone manufacturing and civil aviation system construction. It has delivered  the TP500 unmanned transport aircraft platform, the AR500 drone helicopters series, high-altitude solar long-range drones and other types of drones to customers. 

For its part, Hengshen provided material support to the aircraft, “contributing to the high-quality development of China’s high-end equipment industry through its independent innovation technology“, the company said, whose main application market for composite materials is aerospace.

Hengshen’s EM817B series high-performance composite materials were used in many parts of the Jiutian drone. “Thanks to its high strength and lightness, this material gives the Jiutian drone the technical advantages necessary to achieve performance such as a 6-tonne payload and an operational ceiling exceeding 10,000 metres, thus demonstrating our position as a technological leader in the field of high-end composite materials,” Hengshen emphasises.

Another recent achievement: in May 2025, as Landspace’s ZQ-2E carrier rocket was launched, Hengshen revealed that it developed the carbon fibre composite material support cabin used as a key improved component of the rocket, providing payload transmission support for the satellite and helping the satellite to enter orbit smoothly.