China has launched an autonomous cargo corridor across the Bohai Sea, connecting Dalian and Qingdao. Cargoes are delivered along the approximately 340 km route by unmanned HY100 biplanes — exact copies of Soviet An-2s.
The flight along the new route takes approximately two hours, reducing the burden on traditional transport and accelerating the movement of goods between regions.
Recall that the HY100 UAV was built on the basis of Y-5 aircraft, which became the Chinese version of the An-2. The maximum takeoff weight is 5.25 tons, and the maximum payload is 1.9 tons.
The unmanned HY100 is capable of maintaining stable long-term flight at an altitude of up to 4 meters, making it ideal for agricultural work. For example, when used for spraying pesticides, it can cover about 16 thousand hectares in one day.
In Russia, the new regional LMS-901 "Baikal" is being developed to replace the An-2. In 2026, it will not go into production.
Earlier, "Pervy Tekhnichesky" in a large article compared the capabilities of the An-2 with the "Baikal". Despite its Soviet past, this aircraft proved to be surprisingly versatile and unpretentious, although it raised questions about its speed and fuel consumption.
