The China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) claims to have set a new record for the number of UAVs flying in a swarm, the state-owned Xinhua news agency quoted the corporation as saying.
The 11 June news report states that the swarm comprised 119 UAVs, breaking CETC's previous record swarm of 67 UAVs. Xinhua did not mention when or where the event took place.
The size of the mini UAV swarm is greater than that trialled by the USAF in October 2016 when three Boeing F/A-18 Hornet deployed a swarm of 103 Perdix micro UAVs, which the US DoD noted was one of the world's largest micro UAV swarms to date.
CETC published a video in 2016 of its fixed-wing UAV swarm prototype, which shows the UAVs in a coordinated launch from the ground. The corporation said that the UAVs were flying ad hoc networks, sensing and avoiding collision, and demonstrating autonomous group control.
A CETC engineer was quoted by Xinhua as saying that UAV swarms will become "a disruptive force" that will "change the rules of the game".
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