EHang unveiled the EH216-EK, a pilotless electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft built for aerial firefighting, on November 4, 2026. The launch took place at the company's smart manufacturing centre in Wencheng, Zhejiang province, in front of local officials and EHang managers including the head of its fire and emergency business unit, and included a live firefighting demonstration flight.
The aircraft is aimed at fires in their first stage: in forests and grassland, and at large industrial parks and warehouse and logistics sites. EHang presents it as a complement to ground crews rather than a replacement, able to reach a fire quickly and start dropping extinguishing agent while engines are still on the road, without putting a pilot above the flames.
Maximum design take-off weight is 620 kg and maximum mission payload is 160 kg. A release system with 12 independently controlled electronic channels carries twelve 10 kg canisters as standard, or eight 20 kg canisters as an option. The canisters can hold water-based agent or ultra-fine dry powder, and each is designed to cover a circle about 6 to 8 m across. Because each channel fires separately, the load can be spread over several hot spots or concentrated on one.
EHang says redundant multirotor propulsion and its flight control software let the aircraft hover steadily and drop accurately in wind and in the strong rising heat over a fire. The design follows the safety approach of the EH216 series: no pilot on board, vertical take-off and landing, backup systems and redundancy, and management of several aircraft at once. It can be linked to EHang's command and dispatch platform and to small fire-spotting drones. Those drones report where the fire is and how it is spreading, the platform plans a 3D route, and the EH216-EK flies itself to the drop zone.
The first batch has been assembled at the Wencheng centre and is being used for product validation and application development. EHang also plans joint exercises with emergency, forestry and industrial park organisations. The announcement did not give price, orders, range, endurance or certification status.
What this means for buyers: Fire services, forestry agencies and operators of large industrial sites now have a heavy-lift, pilotless option from a Chinese maker alongside smaller firefighting drones. Before planning a purchase, ask for flight time with a full 160 kg load, local airworthiness and operating approvals, and how canisters and agents are supplied and refilled in your country. If you are comparing firefighting or heavy-lift drones from Chinese manufacturers, our team can help you shortlist suppliers and arrange demonstrations or samples.