Vietnam successfully test-flies drones

Vietnam Sunday successfully conducted test flights of six indigenously-made unmanned aerial vehicles, a media report said.

The "made-in-Vietnam" drones flew over the Central Highlands Lam Dong province, Xinhua reported citing the Van Hoa The Thao (Culture and Sports) newspaper.

After three days of tests - May 17-19 - in Da Lat city and Lac Duong district of Lam Dong, six vehicles made by the Vietnam Space Technology Institute, under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), successfully made 37 flights.

The unmanned aircraft, carrying cameras, spectrometers and other devices, took off from the Cam Ly military airport.

They recorded over 300 high-resolution images about the current conditions of forest resources and water surface in Lam Dong.

The aircraft flew automatically without a ground control system.

The aircraft were equipped with several devices that would help in natural resource management and forest coverage calculation, state-run Vietnam News Agency quoted Chau Van Minh, director of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, as saying.