Domestic Aerial Rescue Hardware Put Through Paces at Hubei Yangtze Flood Control Drill

According to Xinhua News Agency, Mission Emergency 2026, a large-scale flood prevention and rescue exercise co-hosted by the Ministry of Emergency Management and the People’s Government of Hubei Province, has taken place on the Bijiawan stretch of the Yangtze River in Shishou, Jingzhou City.

The drill simulates successive rounds of torrential downpours sweeping across the Yangtze basin, with all training modules designed to replicate four core operational hurdles encountered during major river flood response: breached embankment sealing, disrupted communications, interrupted supply chains and blocked transport links. A full suite of self-developed aerial platforms manufactured by Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) took part in the exercise, carrying out rapid aerial penetration, airborne casualty evacuation and a wide array of vital response tasks. 

These aircraft completed operations including emergency restoration work amid total power, road and telecom blackouts, complex open-water rescue, blind-spot hazard surveys and the erection of temporary airborne communication relay stations.

One staged scenario required swift evacuation of a person pulled from floodwaters following surface search operations. Narrow alleyways and deep submerged zones ruled out fast ground transfer of the casualty. 

A Z-8A helicopter operated by the Kunming Mobile Aerial Rescue Detachment under the National Fire and Rescue Administration lifted off immediately. Flight crews worked alongside ground rescuers to secure the simulated casualty on stretchers and lift the patient into the cabin, while onboard medics administered urgent airborne first aid to preserve critical treatment windows ahead of hospital handover. 

The aircraft covered the distance from the disaster simulation zone to a rear emergency medical centre in just over ten minutes, demonstrating a seamless rapid-response model where crews can launch on alert, deliver care mid-flight and transfer patients straight to medical facilities upon landing. The operation showcased the rapid deployment and three-dimensional transport capacity of domestically built large helicopters when confronted with catastrophic flooding.

The AS700 Xiangyun manned airship appeared at an emergency response drill for the first time during this event. Fitted with a 370MHz cluster base station, broadband ad-hoc network hardware and high-definition electro-optical surveillance sensors, the craft swept over Yangtze dykes, overflowed lowlands and isolated villages to map flood risks. 

Functioning as a floating communications relay hub, it established a temporary aerial signal network that enabled real-time exchange of voice feeds, video footage and data between affected zones and central command headquarters, ensuring smooth transmission of multi-layered operational orders.

Coordinated scheduling between emergency management and communications authorities unlocked a solution to restricted on-the-ground reconnaissance and signal outages, pairing wide-area coverage from large fixed-wing Wing Loong unmanned aerial vehicles with medium and small drones to fill surveillance blind spots across disaster zones. Once dispatched to simulated flood-affected airspace, Wing Loong platforms delivered consistent public network signal coverage over broad terrain. Operating in tandem with smaller unmanned craft, they built an all-angle, multi-layer emergency communications framework that forms a vital digital lifeline for on-site flood command and coordination.

All aerial equipment fielded by AVIC completed assigned rescue tasks throughout Mission Emergency 2026 without incident. The drill put each platform’s performance and functional strengths to the test amid complex disaster environments and extreme operating parameters, laying out tangible progress made in building a comprehensive domestic aerial emergency rescue equipment ecosystem.