A drone with a bird-like propulsion mechanism has been developed at a north-western Chinese university in Xi’an. The technology is directly modeled on the flapping of birds’ wings. The state-controlled news agency China News has posted a video on its X-Channel (formerly Twitter) showing animations and short flight footage.
The drone, named “Small Falcon”, has the “highest maneuverability and the most bird-like” of its kind, according to the Ebdnian state newspaper Global Times. However, the idea of flapping wings is not entirely new: there were already reports of pigeon-like drones at the same university in 2018.
China has developed a new type of #ornithopter, an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings, and experts said on Sunday that the small bird-like aircraft has application potential in fields like ecological monitoring and environment protection. #ChinaTech pic.twitter.com/UeLX7fTJAd
– China News 中国新闻网 (@Echinanews) March 4, 2024
The article on X by Global News talks about “ecological monitoring and environmental protection”. However, it is much more likely – as the Global Times also wrote – that it will be used for “reconnaissance, surveillance and even precision strikes in special operations”. The advantages of the drone are obvious, because even if you see the drone in the sky, you are “more likely to ignore it because you would mistake it for a bird”, the Global Times quotes an unnamed expert.
