(Yicai Global) Sept. 25 -- SF Holdings, China's biggest non-state courier and known as SF Express, has begun testing its unmanned delivery drone as it looks to bring advanced technologies to the country's thriving logistics sector.

The cargo drone successfully completed flight tests at a facility near the Great Wall, China Aerospace Times Electronics, whose subsidiary developed the drone in partnership with an SF unit, said in a statement yesterday. The unmanned aerial vehicle is based upon the Shijiazhuang Y-5B, a Chinese aircraft based on Russia's Antonov An-2, and has a maximum payload of 1.5 tons and top takeoff weight of 5.25 tons.

The An-2 biplane is renowned for its ability to take off from small or lowly airstrips and has been adapted for a range of uses, including agricultural, forestry and military applications. China licensed the craft in the 1950s.

SF's new drone will satisfy its own demands for delivery in remote cities, mountainous areas and even on islands, the statement added. The pair also forecast the UAV having applications in agriculture and forestry, cartography, emergency and disaster relief, maritime search and rescues and delivery of military goods.

The craft is still in the testing stages and more experiments need to be conducted to assess the technologies involved, according to the statement. The developers have not yet signed any bulk supply deals, but hope to do so once they have obtained an airworthiness certificate for the drone.

Editor: James Boynton