Oct. 7, 2015
AVIC, the leading Chinese aviation conglomerate, unveiled a flying robot car during the September 2015 Third China Helicopter Exposition in Tianjin. The Swift Gazelle (Sai Ling in Mandarin Chinese) currently weighs 100 kg, and uses its six side-mounted, digitally controlled rotors to vertically take off and land, hover and fly, just like a helicopter. On land, the Swift Gazelle can speed off in pursuit of enemies. At its current small size, the Swift Gazelle is unmanned, which means that it can drive autonomously on the ground (and is much cheaper for scouting missions), at least until a bigger Gazelle comes along for human use.