China’s drone supremacy shows in airlifting bodies and food after Nepal flood disaster
China’s drone supremacy shows in airlifting bodies and food after Nepal flood disaster
中国无人机在尼泊尔洪灾后的遗体转运与物资补给中展现卓越性能
Chinese-made drones are flying out the bodies of flood victims and delivering food to survivors in the aftermath of devastating flash floods on the border of Nepal and China’s Tibetan region. Nepal’s army has been using four DJI FlyCart 100 drones donated from China to make 10 to 16 aid deliveries each day, according to Reuters. 在尼泊尔与中国西藏地区边境发生毁灭性山洪灾害后，中国制造的无人机正在协助运送洪灾遇难者遗体，并为幸存者提供食物补给。据路透社报道，尼泊尔军队目前正在使用中国捐赠的四架大疆（DJI）FlyCart 100无人机，每天执行10到16次救援物资投送任务。
This comes after a partial glacier collapse in the Himalayan mountains unleashed a sudden surge of water, mud, and debris that swept through border crossings, valley communities, and hydropower projects on August 26. The DJI Flycart 100 Drones come with a 98-foot rope and winch system for picking up and dropping off heavy loads. The website of Chinese drone company DJI describes the drones as being able to carry between 187 and 220 pounds, depending on the battery configuration. 此前，喜马拉雅山脉部分冰川于8月26日崩塌，引发了突如其来的洪水、泥石流和碎石冲击，横扫了边境口岸、山谷社区及水电项目。大疆FlyCart 100无人机配备了98英尺（约30米）长的绳索和绞盘系统，用于吊运重物。据大疆官网介绍，根据电池配置的不同，该机型的载重能力在187至220磅（约85至100公斤）之间。
The four Chinese cargo drones being used by the Nepal army are currently hauling about 132 pounds of supplies per trip, Reuters reported. That heavy-lift capability has also allowed the drones to remove human bodies from some flood-stricken areas. The official death toll in Nepal had risen to 1,369 as of September 9, according to a situation report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. The Nepal government agency also reported that more than 5,000 people are still missing, including 587 foreign nationals. 据路透社报道，尼泊尔军队目前使用的这四架中国货运无人机，每趟飞行可运送约132磅（约60公斤）的物资。这种重载能力也使无人机能够从部分受灾地区转运遇难者遗体。根据尼泊尔国家减灾管理署9月9日的报告，尼泊尔官方确认的死亡人数已升至1369人。该机构还报告称，仍有超过5000人失踪，其中包括587名外籍人士。
The same situation report also mentioned how the drones have helped to distribute 1,591 kilograms of food items across 31 flights. The United Nations is appealing for $20.5 million to help 43,000 people in the aftermath of the flood disaster in Nepal. 同一份报告还提到，这些无人机已通过31次飞行，成功分发了1591公斤的食品。联合国目前正呼吁筹集2050万美元，以援助尼泊尔洪灾后的43000名受灾民众。
Smaller drones have also proven useful in search-and-rescue efforts as Nepal has deployed more than 21,000 police and soldiers to look for survivors. Search teams have occasionally found surviving workers trapped in hydropower tunnels after the floodwaters ripped through both operational hydropower plants and sites under construction. One drone pilot and filmmaker, Manish Maharjan, told AP News about flying small drones inside hydropower plant tunnels to help search for trapped workers but highlighted the challenges of flying drones through tunnels with many “bends, turns, or zigzags.” 在尼泊尔部署超过21000名军警搜寻幸存者的过程中，小型无人机也发挥了重要作用。洪水冲毁了运营中的水电站和在建工地，搜救队偶尔能在水电站隧道中发现被困的幸存工人。无人机飞手兼电影制作人Manish Maharjan在接受美联社采访时表示，他曾驾驶小型无人机进入水电站隧道搜寻被困人员，但他强调，在充满“弯道、转角或之字形”的隧道中飞行极具挑战性。
Maharjan also described finding some tunnels “filled with mud like toothpaste in a tube.” The drones carried microphone speakers that allowed rescuers to call out to potential survivors or play music, which helped locate survivors in a few cases, Maharjan said. The Nepal government’s September 9 update described 13,646 people as having been rescued so far. Chinese officials have reported 43 deaths on the Tibetan side of the border with more than 500 people still missing, according to NBC News. Maharjan还描述称，一些隧道“像牙膏管一样被泥浆填满”。他说，无人机搭载了扩音器，救援人员可以通过它呼叫潜在的幸存者或播放音乐，这在少数情况下成功帮助定位了幸存者。尼泊尔政府9月9日的更新显示，目前已有13646人获救。据NBC新闻报道，中国官方报告称，边境西藏一侧有43人死亡，仍有500多人失踪。
US-China drone competition on Mount Everest
珠穆朗玛峰上的中美无人机竞争
The flood relief efforts represent just the latest example of Chinese cargo drones operating in Nepal. Since 2024, Sherpas assisting climbers at Mount Everest have been making regular use of Chinese drones—including the same DJI Flycart 100 and the smaller DJI Flycart 30—to deliver oxygen cylinders and other supplies to camps while ferrying out poop bags and other garbage, Al Jazeera reported. 此次洪灾救援只是中国货运无人机在尼泊尔应用的一个最新案例。据半岛电视台报道，自2024年以来，协助珠穆朗玛峰登山者的夏尔巴人已开始频繁使用中国无人机（包括同款的大疆FlyCart 100和较小型的FlyCart 30），向营地运送氧气瓶和其他物资，同时将排泄物袋及其他垃圾运下山。
The Mount Everest drone flights have even become a focus of US-China tech competition. On May 1, a US team led by President Donald Trump’s special envoy for South Asia attempted to fly a US-made Freefly Alta X Gen 2 drone from the Mount Everest base camp in a challenge to DJI’s heavy-lift drone dominance in Nepal. But that flight never happened because Nepal’s government denied the US team permission to fly. 珠峰上的无人机飞行甚至成为了中美科技竞争的焦点。5月1日，一支由唐纳德·特朗普总统的南亚特使领导的美国团队，试图从珠峰大本营起飞一架美国制造的Freefly Alta X Gen 2无人机，以挑战大疆在尼泊尔重载无人机领域的统治地位。但由于尼泊尔政府拒绝了美方的飞行许可，该次飞行未能成行。
The government also canceled the drone flight permits for the Chinese DJI drones for a week before protests from Mount Everest expedition operators prompted the official go-ahead for flights to resume. The Nepal government’s decision to temporarily ground the Chinese drones, along with denying the US permission to fly, may have represented “an effort to maintain strategic neutrality” between China and the United States, retired Nepali army major general Binoj Basnyat told The Wall Street Journal. 尼泊尔政府还曾取消了中国大疆无人机为期一周的飞行许可，但在珠峰探险运营商的抗议下，官方最终恢复了飞行许可。尼泊尔退役陆军少将Binoj Basnyat在接受《华尔街日报》采访时表示，尼泊尔政府暂时停飞中国无人机并拒绝美国飞行许可的决定，可能是一种在美中之间“维持战略中立”的努力。
In any case, US drone companies may face some headwinds in winning over the mountaineering expeditions at Mount Everest. Milan Pandey, cofounder of the Nepali drone company Airlift Technology, told The Wall Street Journal that the Chinese-made DJI drones can carry significantly more than the US-made Freefly drone at higher Mount Everest altitudes—the difference between carrying 100 pounds versus just 11 pounds. The Chinese drones are also cheaper than the US-made Freefly drone. 无论如何，美国无人机公司在争取珠峰探险队方面可能面临阻力。尼泊尔无人机公司Airlift Technology的联合创始人Milan Pandey告诉《华尔街日报》，在珠峰高海拔地区，中国制造的大疆无人机载重能力远超美国制造的Freefly无人机——前者可载重100磅，而后者仅为11磅。此外，中国无人机的价格也比美国制造的Freefly更具优势。
However, Pandey also expressed interest in having his company test the Freefly drones in support of mountaineering expeditions. That test finally happened on the neighboring mountain of Ama Dablam in June. In a post on July 26, the US embassy in Nepal described the drone flights ferrying oxygen cylinders and other equipment between the mountain’s base camp and another camp, but it did not specify how much weight the drones were able to carry. 不过，Pandey也表示有兴趣让他的公司测试Freefly无人机，以支持登山探险活动。该测试最终于6月在邻近的阿玛达布拉姆峰（Ama Dablam）进行。美国驻尼泊尔大使馆在7月26日的一篇帖子中描述了无人机在山峰大本营与其他营地之间运送氧气瓶和其他设备的情况，但并未说明无人机的具体载重能力。
Meanwhile, Shenzhen-based DJI dominates the world’s commercial drone sales with between 70 and 80 percent market share—although the Trump administration recently imposed a 100 percent tariff on foreign-made drones. The US Federal Communications Commission is also mulling a “military grade” classification restriction that could even prevent US law enforcement and first responders from using DJI’s drones, despite the majority of state and local law enforcement agencies using DJI drones and describing them as irreplaceable. 与此同时，总部位于深圳的大疆在全球商用无人机销售中占据了70%至80%的市场份额——尽管特朗普政府近期对外国制造的无人机征收了100%的关税。美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）也在考虑实施“军用级”分类限制，这甚至可能禁止美国执法部门和急救人员使用大疆无人机，尽管大多数州和地方执法机构目前都在使用大疆产品，并称其不可替代。