China has deployed a long-endurance dual-use drone in a cloud-seeding trial in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the first time the controversial practice has been carried out by an unmanned aerial vehicle in the dry western region.
The trial is being carried out with the TB-A strike and reconnaissance drone, also known as the Twin-tailed Scorpion A.
The unmanned aircraft, typically used to carry ammunition during military operations, has been loaded with silver iodide rods as part of a 45-day cloud-seeding trial that began on Sunday.
The drone is operating in the autonomous region’s easternmost city of Hami, with a focus on the Dongtian mountain area, to test its cloud-seeding capabilities in high-altitude areas, according to Communist Party-owned newspaper Xinjiang Daily.
Hami – known for a variety of sweet melon – is in one of the most water-scarce parts of China and has been hit hard by climate change, with frequent droughts and high temperatures.
The TB-A can carry as many as 24 silver iodide rods and 200 smoke grenades – both rain-inducing agents – and has been equipped with cloud particle detection and wind radar equipment for the trial, according to Xinhua.
The TB-A, developed by the civilian company Sichuan Tengden, is an upgraded version of the TB-001, a combat drone that has been deployed by the People’s Liberation Army for operations around Taiwan and Japan.
In a rare case in April of last year, a TB-001 drone circled Taiwan, with state media pictures showing missiles under its wings.
The same model was also flown in June off the coast of Amami Oshima in Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture – making it the first Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle to operate in the area.
The TB-A has three engines, compared to the two-engine TB-001, and has a higher maximum take off weight of 3,250kg (7,165lbs), higher endurance of 40 hours, and longer range of 8,000km (4,971 miles), according to the company.
While the trial was the first to take place in Xinjiang, it was not the first time for a TB-A to be used to induce rain.
A TB-A drone was sent to seed clouds in the Sichuan basin in the summer of 2022, when China was hit by a severe heatwave and the Yangtze River had dried up in parts.
The southwestern province of Yunnan also began its first cloud-seeding trial in October of last year by using a TB-A to ease droughts caused by decreased summer precipitation.
China is a leader in cloud seeding, a technology that has been controversial because of its unintended consequences, including increased pollution and excessive precipitation. Some scientists have also questioned its effectiveness.
The country launched a programme for “quality development of weather modification” in 2020 and pledged to achieve a developed weather modification system by 2025.
The National Meteorological Centre unveiled a “cloud-seeding disaster relief” action plan last year aimed at promoting the use of drones for weather modification.
China’s Wing Loong 2H, another dual-use long-endurance drone, has also been used for weather modification operations, including in the southern province of Guizhou in March.
