By Li Qinghua and Song Peng

URUMQI, Jan. 14 -- A total of 30 grassroots cadres and police officers from border cities (counties) in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, passed the assessment for border defense drone pilots on January 12.

This border defense drone pilot training, jointly conducted by the PLA Army Academy of Border and Coastal Defense (Urumqi) and the Border Defense Commission of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, aimed to cultivate professional backbones capable of drone operation, command, as well as maintenance for the frontier defense forces.

It is learnt that the border defense drone training mainly includes four steps, namely, theoretical study, simulation training, actual flight operation, and assessment and certification. The trainees will obtain the national civil drone pilot certificate after passing the final assessment.