BEIJING – China’s drone newcomer Tengoen Technology (also spelled Tengdun)has ambitious plans. The company promises to market armed drones forpurchase. It also promises to build the world’s biggest cargo drone – whichis quite an achievement for a company that was only founded in 2016.

Popular Science reported the TB-001 Scorpion, Tengoen’s flagship vehicle,is a twin-engine, double-tail drone. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 2.8tons, a range of more than 6,000km, and provisions to carry two 100kg bombsor missiles. Tengoen has also partnered with Chinese delivery company SFExpress to build a souped-up TB-001 for cargo delivery, increasing thedrone’s size to 3.3 tons, with a 1.2-ton payload.

In December 2017, the modified TB-011 showed off its capability bypara-dropping supplies to a Huawei repair crew fixing a cell tower in themountainous Yunnan Province.According to Popular Science, Tengoen is already at work building aneight-engine drone with a wingspan of more than 42 meters to carry apayload of 20 tons up to 7,500km – which is similar to a medium-sizedmanned cargo plane.

The carbon-fiber, double-bodied drone carries the payload module betweenthe two fuselages and is being built at Tengoen’s facility in Chengdu. Itis expected that it will be launched in 2020.

Popular Science stated that Tengoen executives were quick to highlightcivilian applications for the unmanned aircraft system: space launch, firefighting, and emergency relief. The drone’s large size and modular payloadcapacity could also take on a variety of military missions, includingintelligence gathering and electronic warfare.

Its large payload could make it function as an aerial tanker, too,refueling aircraft like search-and-rescue helicopters, patrolling fighters,cargo transports, and bombers, the report stated.