原文：http://shenzhen.chinacompositesexpo.com/en/news-detail-92-15057.htmlOctober 18, Changzhou -- The world's largest unmanned cargo aircraft W5000 rolls off the final assembly line at Air While Whale’s Changzhou production base. The aircraft boasts a maximum takeoff weight of 10.8 tons, a maximum payload capacity of 5 tons, an effective volume of cargo bay of 65 cubic meters, and a range of 2,600 kilometers.

Lv Jinhu, Vice President of Beihang University, Xu Jun, Deputy Mayor of Changzhou, other local officials, major partners, clients, representatives from investment funds and supplier chains attended the ceremony.


Along with the ceremony, Air White Whale announced also the acquisition of Series A funding worth 120 million yuan, as the second round of funding in 2024, four months after the Pre-A funding obtained in last June. This round of funding is mainly used for the development, production and ground test of the W5000 prototype, and the construction of final assembly lines. To date, Air White Whale Route has obtained 200 million worth financing in 2024.

W5000 project was launched in 2021 and designed to respond to challenges from modern logistics, providing same-day delivery service to airfreight industry. The W5000 adopts traditional turboprop engines, with the nose-to-tail length of 22.89 meters, a wingspan of 22.70 meters, and a vertical tail lengthy at 7.51 meters. It is one of the largest cargo aircrafts in China in respective of load capacity, range, safety, efficiency and cost.

The supply chain of W5000 is completely self-independent and controllable, with all components sourced from the state-owned or leading private aviation companies. W5000 has advantages in operating costs and efficiency, offering 40% cost deduction per ton per kilometer in comparison with its manned counterparts of the same level. The transit time at airports is only 15 minutes. At present, the airworthiness application has been accepted by the Civil Aviation Administration, and the first aircraft is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2026. It is reported that W5000 will make its global debut at the 15th Zhuhai Airshow held this year.


Founded in 2021, Air White Whale is committed to becoming a global leading manufacturer of large unmanned autonomous cargo aircraft and a provider of complete air cargo solutions. With a focus on air cargo, The company is dedicated to the research and manufacturing of large unmanned cargo aircraft, and is committed to providing the best solutions for future regional air cargo transportation, achieving the goal of 24-hour nationwide logistics accessibility in China. The main founders all graduated from Beihang University and have rich work experience in well-known aviation and manufacturing enterprises such as Airbus, COMAC, General Electric, Xiaomi, etc. They have a profound understanding of civil aviation airworthiness system, operation system, production and manufacturing, quality management and other fields. Air White Whale has established research and development centers in Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai to carry out overall aerodynamic, aircraft structure, and onboard system development, and has built a final assembly line and testing center in Changzhou.

ASEAN, Japan and South Korea, the Russian Far East, and five Central Asian countries are all within the range of the W5000. Countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, have also shown strong interest in W5000 and have signed orders of intention.
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