In another leap for urban firefighting, Shenzhen’s fire department successfully deployed a drone to deliver water at an altitude of 306 meters via an automated mid-air coupling system on Friday.

The trial, conducted at the 333-meter-tall Chengjian Yunqi Building (城建云启大厦) in Luohu district, aimed to overcome the limitations of traditional firefighting methods in skyscrapers, where water pressure and equipment reach often fall short.

At the building's 278-meter-high refuge floor, engineers set up a mobile pressurization system connected to a hose, which a drone then secured to its receiving interface using mechanical claws.

Through the water supply chain thus created, the engineers succeeded to increase the water pressure to 1.5 megapascal, achieving a flow rate of 16 liters per second and a maximum range of 36 meters.

The trial builds on earlier successes, including a test in December where drones delivered water at 230 meters.

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Through joint effort between government department, technology enterprises and research institutes, Shenzhen is seeking to develop key technologies and equipment for drone-based firefighting and rescue operations in high-rises.

This article is translated by China Daily from the original report in Chinese on Shenzhen Xiaofang, a WeChat public account of Shenzhen’s fire department.