"Bee Shadow 2026" First Military Small and Micro Unmanned Aircraft Innovation Challenge begins.

The first small and micro unmanned aerial vehicle innovation application challenge of "Bee Shadow 2026" military was unveiled in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province on the morning of the 24th. The 3-day challenge, hosted by the Equipment Development Department and Training Management Department of the Central Military Commission, co-organized by the Army Headquarters, and undertaken by the Army Engineering University, had a total of 69 representative teams from the entire military participating. It is reported that the challenge focuses on promoting construction, training, and enhancing capabilities through competition, with a focus on drone assembly and debugging, battlefield repairs, tactical control, and collaborative applications in real combat scenarios. It aims to create a test area for equipment technology applications, an innovation incubator for tactics and training methods, and a simulation training ground for combat capabilities enhancement, in order to boost the improvement of new combat capabilities. With combat scenarios serving as a guide, the course design emphasizes "flying" over basic control, "improvement" over technological innovation, "collaboration" over networked operations, and "management" over logistical support, aiming to address the practical problems faced in combat use from the "equipment side". At the scene, it was observed that the competition courses have different focuses and increasing difficulties, each with strong relevance. For example, the "timed assembly, transport, and release" course focuses on knowledge of equipment and management, emphasizing the ability to test "management" and "improvement", with a key focus on the mastery and application of drone performance characteristics. The "low-altitude obstacle crossing and breakthrough" course, on the other hand, emphasizes precise control, focusing on testing the abilities of "flying" and "management", with a key focus on precise control and rapid maintenance skills. In addition, activities such as maintenance skills and observation of innovation achievements were conducted during the competition, demonstrating and teaching the positioning, basic concepts, methods, and practical applications of small and micro unmanned aerial vehicle maintenance and support work.