China unveils a fixed-wing drone made of bamboo fibre composite material

 A bamboo-based tiltrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) completed its maiden flight in Tianjin, northern China, marking a major breakthrough in China’s application of bamboo-based composite materials in aviation.

“The proportion of bamboo used in the fuselage exceeds 25%, and the entire skin structure is made of high-performance bamboo-based composite materials developed independently, which is the first of its kind in the world for fixed-wing drones,” said project lead Qin Daochun, Director of the International Centre Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) in Beijing. INBAR co-developed the bamboo-based drone with Beihang University’s Ningbo Institute of Technology, and Long Bamboo Technology Group.

For the UAV design and assembly, Ningbo Institute of Technology partnered with Tianmu Nano (Hangzhou) New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., a technology transfer company incubated by the Tianmushan Laboratory of the Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory for Aeronautics, specialising on structural design, development, and application in the field of aerospace new materials. Focusing on green civil aircraft and the low-altitude economy, the Tianmushan Laboratory has created the “Tianmushan X” series aircraft, having released more than 10 Tianmushan series aircraft, including the the “Tianmushan No. 4” inter-island logistics water drone.

Airworthiness standards met

Qin Daochun underlined that the bamboo-based drone has dual advantages in terms of performance and cost. The weight of the entire aircraft is reduced by more than 20% compared to lightweight and high-strength carbon fibre materials, and the cost of bamboo sheet is only about 1/4 of that of ordinary carbon fibre cloth.

The aircraft adopts a vertical take-off and landing tiltrotor layout, combining long range, high speed,  vertical take-off and landing capabilities. With a wingspan exceeding 2.5 m, a take-off weight of only 7 kg, a level flight speed exceeding 100 km/h, and an endurance of over one hour, it possesses excellent mission adaptability and application expansion potential, according to INBAR.

“Bamboo-based composite materials for drones not only need to meet stringent mechanical performance requirements, but also need to overcome a series of technical challenges such as moulding processes and environmental adaptability. The team’s bamboo-based composite met airworthiness standards while combining high strength, toughness, and formability,” Qin Daochun told Xinhua news agency.

According to INBAR, China is the country with the richest bamboo resources in the world, with nearly 8 million hectares of bamboo forests and an average annual production of 150 million tonnes of bamboo. Since 2023, the Chinese government and INBAR are working together to implement global development initiatives and jointly launched the “Bamboo to replace Plastic” initiative to promote countries to reduce plastic pollution, address climate change, and accelerate the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.