Driverless Freight Transport Between Russia and China Is to Launch in 2026
A pilot project using autonomous trucks and drones is expected to begin on the Blagoveshchensk - Heihe cross-border bridge.
Photo: iStock
Unmanned freight transport across the Blagoveshchensk – Heihe bridge on the Russia-China border could begin as early as this year, Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin told RIA Novosti ahead of the International Transport and Logistics Forum.
Nikitin said the Chinese side has shown interest in using drones for cargo delivery.
“A pilot launch of unmanned freight transport across the Blagoveshchensk – Heihe international bridge between Russia and China is planned. An agreement has been reached, and we expect to organize it this year. The Transport Ministry, together with the Amur Region government, will ensure the implementation of the project and the development of a regulatory framework for cross-border unmanned transport. This will set a global precedent,” Nikitin said.
He added that a pilot drone cargo delivery project is also being prepared in one of Russia’s regions.
Autonomous Trucks and Tractor Units
Earlier, 95 autonomous trucks operating on federal highways M-11 Neva, M-4 Don and the Central Ring Road were connected to a unified identification system based on ERA-GLONASS.
In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an autonomous KAMAZ truck on the M-12 Vostok highway. Currently, 18 KAMAZ trucks operate on the M-11 and Central Ring Road.
“Today, the company’s engineers are working on an improved version of the vehicle - Mayak-3 will bring the project closer to mass production. It includes redundant control systems for computing, steering and braking. A sensor cleaning system has been added, which is particularly important in spring and autumn. The semi-trailer has been integrated into the overall machine vision system. Highly automated KAMAZ vehicles are expected to be equipped with smart semi-trailers fitted with sensor systems, which will improve the safety of truck combinations and significantly expand the functionality of autonomous freight vehicles,” said Sergey Kogogin.
