A spectacular show at the Spring Festival Gala sub-venue in Yibin City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, showcased China's domestically developed unmanned aerial vehicles in their first clustered public appearance on the gala stage.

During the show on Monday night, 10 Cloud Shadow UAVs and two Wing Loong UAVs took to the sky in formation, marking the debut of China's independently developed medium- and large-sized UAVs performing together at the Spring Festival Gala.

Both Cloud Shadow and Wing Loong UAVs are independently developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) in Sichuan.

The Wing Loong UAV assigned to the gala mission is China's first medium- to large-sized unmanned aircraft designed for artificial weather modification. In weather intervention operations, it overcomes challenges posed by complex meteorological and geographic conditions and features key anti-icing technologies. It has been widely used in forest fire prevention, ecological restoration, drought relief and support for major public events.

Meanwhile, the Cloud Shadow UAV is a fixed-wing UAV system with vertical takeoff and landing capability, independently developed by AVIC's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group. It features flexible takeoff and landing, modular payload systems, rapid assembly and low operational costs. Equipped with electro-optical payloads, it can perform inspection, reconnaissance and emergency rescue missions, and can also operate in coordinated clusters.

To operate the UAVs at the gala venue with rapidly changing weather conditions, complex terrain and electromagnetic interference, the team used an intelligent management and control system independently developed by AVIC called "Wenyao."

"As an intelligent control platform for unmanned systems, it can present the overall flight status and the surrounding environment to us in the most authentic way. When we are doing mission planning, it helps us avoid corresponding flight obstacles and plays a vital role in the command and dispatch of our entire flight mission," said Zhao Chuangxin, head of the UAV product development department under AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group.

Hosted by the China Media Group (CMG), the long-running Spring Festival Gala this year features four sub-venues in addition to the main stage in Beijing. Taking the grand show to new locations each year has become a new tradition, shining a spotlight on more of China's varied landscapes and cultural traditions. Yibin is one of the four sub-venues for the Spring Festival Gala this year.

Besides Yibin, the other three sub-venues for the Spring Festival Gala this year are Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang in northeast China known as the "ice city," Yiwu in east China's Zhejiang, which has been dubbed "the world's supermarket," and Hefei, the provincial capital of the eastern Anhui Province which has emerged as a hub for sci-tech innovation.