China’s Agricultural Drone Makers Pivot to Smarter Navigation as Size Race Ends
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China’s top agricultural drone manufacturers are recalibrating their approach, halting the decades-long arms race of ever-bigger machines to focus instead on smarter navigation systems.
Leading players DJI Agriculture, a unit of SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd. and Guangzhou Xaircraft Technology Co. Ltd. (XAG) both recently rolled out new flagship drones with unchanged maximum takeoff weights of 149.9 kilograms — matching their 2024 predecessors. It’s the first time industry leaders have not pushed the weight boundary upward, marking a notable departure from the traditional “bigger is better” philosophy in agricultural drone design.
The pivot is driven by new regulations that came into effect in early 2024, which exempt drones weighing 150 kilograms or less from needing a flight operating certificate. Securing permits for heavier drones remains a lengthy process, one that farmers—often operating under tight seasonal deadlines—are eager to avoid.
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- China’s leading agricultural drone makers, DJI Agriculture and XAG, kept their flagship drones’ weight below 150 kg due to new 2024 regulations exempting lighter drones from flight permits.
- The industry focus has shifted from increasing drone size to enhancing navigation and obstacle avoidance, with DJI adding advanced lidar technology for improved precision.
- These lidar systems are costlier, but greatly improve safety; DJI’s new T100S model offers 153% higher sensor resolution and expanded crash insurance coverage.
- SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd.
- SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd. (DJI) is a leading Chinese agricultural drone manufacturer. Its unit, DJI Agriculture, released the T100S drone, which uses lidar for enhanced navigation and obstacle avoidance. This new model focuses on smart systems rather than increasing drone size, aligning with new regulations. DJI has also updated its insurance policy to cover crashes into linear obstacles at higher speeds, demonstrating confidence in its advanced technology.
- Guangzhou Xaircraft Technology Co. Ltd. (XAG)
- Guangzhou Xaircraft Technology Co. Ltd. (XAG) is a leading Chinese agricultural drone manufacturer. They recently introduced a new flagship drone with an unchanged maximum takeoff weight of 149.9 kilograms, aligning with new regulations. XAG, which primarily serves large, open farmlands, has focused on refining existing hardware and software algorithms rather than incorporating lidar into its latest model.
- Early 2024：
- New regulations come into effect, exempting drones weighing 150 kg or less from needing a flight operating certificate.
- 2024：
- DJI’s flagship drone is released with added lidar for precise obstacle detection.
- By 2025：
- It is the first time that leading drone manufacturers release new flagship models (takeoff weights unchanged at 149.9 kg), not increasing the weight limit compared to the 2024 models.
- As of 2025：
- DJI updates its insurance policy to fully cover crashes into linear obstacles at speeds up to 10 meters per second.
- Nov. 18, 2025：
- DJI releases the newest model, the T100S, with improved lidar unit and higher point cloud density.
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