New Firefighting Drones Used in China

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A video clip shows three drones circling a multi-story structure and extinguishing a fire in China’s Shaanxi province.

The video was first published on Twitter by a China-focused travel page called Sharing Travel, which posted it with the caption “The fire brigade in Shaanxi is trying new toys.”

The video depicts three drones flying around a burning high-rise building and spraying it with water using a hose attached to each drone and eventually managing to extinguish the fire.

Ian Bremmer, a political scientist and president of Eurasia Group, re-shared the clip and stated, “The future is here.”

Among the impressed comments praising the technology, some commenters claimed that it is mere optics and doesn’t make sense, making comments like “See person on the ground for scale. Could have easily been done from the ground or with a ladder,” or “Weight of the hose will significantly limit the height such a drone can operate on. Doesn’t seem very useful.”

Drones were also used in emergency rescue drills held by the city of Xi’an in the Shaanxi province late last year, as reported by state news agency Xinhua.

According to Cybernews, drones equipped with fire-extinguishing bombs were shown advancing against the fire. The drills also included rescue communication drones and drones equipped with lighting systems to guide crowds away from danger.

Other experiments with the technology in China have shown the potential for its military use, including drones capable of deploying battle robots nicknamed “killer robodogs”.