A Lunar New Year post from the Chinese coastguard on Wednesday provided a rare glimpse at how aerial drones have become essential to daily training and operations near a hotly contested South China Sea reef.
The social media post was meant to show officers on the coastguard vessel Wanshan, or China Coast Guard 3301, guarding the disputed Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island in China, during the Lunar New Year holiday. But the details of their daily training revealed how aerial drones and helicopters play a crucial role in Chinese coastguard operations in the disputed South China Sea. The post featured Qiu Canhui, a Chinese coastguard drone operator and videographer aboard the Wanshan. He described how he used his rest time to study video footage to learn how to minimise interference from wind, waves and ships and keep drones relatively steady when filming stand-offs between the coastguard and vessels from other countries.

Full report : Lunar New Year post gives rare look at the role of uncrewed aircraft in training and operations near disputed South China Sea reef.