this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2026
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186
China’s ‘land aircraft carrier’ charges flying drone with microwave beam (www.scmp.com)
submitted 17 hours ago by FTonsilStones@lemmy.ca to c/technology@lemmy.world
36 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Scientists in China have demonstrated a wireless power transmission system that uses a ground-based microwave emitter to beam energy to an antenna array mounted on the aircraft’s underside. Importantly, they were able to do this while both the drone and charging system were in motion.

In tests, the car-mounted system kept fixed-wing drones in the air for up to 3.1 hours at an altitude of 15 metres (49 feet). The key challenge that the team overcame was maintaining alignment between the emitter and the drone during flight, wrote Song Liwei, the project’s leader.

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[–] jaxxed@lemmy.world 10 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

The decreased chargng time comes with a massive increase in charging power. The equivalent in ths scenario is to massvely increase the microwave power - which would likely cook the drone.

[–] Domino@quokk.au 9 points 10 hours ago

I prefer my drones cooked in an old fashioned oven, microwaves leave the middle too cold and the outside too hot.