China has pushed further into heavy unmanned aviation with the first flight of the Changying-8 (CY-8) — the world’s heaviest cargo drone. The CY-8 blends high payload capacity with short runway performance.

The aircraft completed its first test flight on Tuesday in Zhengzhou, located in central China’s Henan province. It lifted off after a short ground run of 280 metres and stayed airborne for about 30 minutes, during which key onboard systems were tested.