CargoForwarder Global reported on the Air White Whale earlier this year, already, and now there seems to be much positive movement. On 18OCT24, the W5000, the world’s largest unmanned cargo aircraft, was successfully assembled and rolled off the production line at Air White Whale’s Changzhou production base. With a maximum take-off weight of 10.8 tons, a maximum payload capacity of 5 tons, and a range of 2,600 km, this model is the world’s largest unmanned cargo aircraft. The company’s press release refers to the event as “an important milestone for Air White Whale, and a major leap for the unmanned cargo industry. As technology continues to progress and the market matures, unmanned cargo aircraft are expected to become the new normal in the logistics industry, providing efficient, safe and environmentally friendly logistics solutions for customers around the world.”
That milestone was swiftly followed by a second one as the company announced that it had obtained 120 million RMB in Series A financing – the second investment round this year. The total amount invested in Air White Whale thus far is close to 200 million RMB, and the funds are mainly being put towards the production and development of the W5000 test model, ground tests and assembly capacity building.
ASEAN, Japan and South Korea, Russia’s Far East and five Central Asian countries are all within the W5000’s flight range. Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, are also interested in the W5000’s large-scale unmanned intelligent cargo aircraft and have already signed orders of intent. Air White Whale’s Changzhou assembly base is planned to have an annual production capacity of 120 aircraft, and the first aircraft expected to be delivered in the second half of 2026. Should this come to fruition, then Air White Whale will be a great step closer to realizing the goal of 24-hour nationwide accessibility for domestic logistics, as well as offering a solid contender in the idea of the “future air cargo.” Several interested parties visited the production site last week to discuss use cases and implementation. The state-of-the-art cargo drone which incorporates advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), has the potential to accelerate the development of China’s logistics industry and set a new benchmark in the global unmanned freight transportation field, thus realizing the country’s vision of “Accelerating China, Serving the World”.
