Chile Acquires DJI Air 3 Chinese Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Observation.

The Chilean Army's Artillery School will soon welcome DJI Air 3 observation drones, provided by Disproelec, which promise delivery one day after the order is placed. These drones, purchased by the Artillery School (Escart) of the Chilean Army from Distribuidora de Productos Electrónicos y Maquinaria (Disproelec), will be used for surveillance and observation of the General Bari shooting range located in Linares, in the Maule region.
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The Chilean Army's Artillery School will soon welcome DJI Air 3 observation drones. (Picture source: DJI Store)

The procurement process began on February 29 on the Mercado Público portal and concluded on March 8, with proposals submitted by M Industrial SpA, Proveedor Logístico Fernando Matas EIRL, Disproelec, and Dronia SpA. The Evaluation Commission awarded the contract to Disproelec, which met all the administrative and technical criteria specified in the tender, achieving a 100% rating.

Disproelec commits to delivering the DJI Air 3 drones within a day of the purchase order being issued and will provide a 12-month technical warranty to the Chilean Army's Artillery School.

The DJI Air 3 is equipped with the Air series' first dual-camera system, including a wide-angle camera with a 1/1.3-inch CMOS and a 3x medium telephoto camera with a 1/1.3-inch CMOS. Although both cameras have the same sensor size, they have different focal lengths, ensuring consistent image quality and offering more dynamic imaging capabilities.

Weighing 720 g, the drone is powered by a 4241 mAh/Li-ion 45 battery, providing a flight autonomy of 46 minutes and a maximum flight distance of 32 km. Its wide-angle and medium telephoto cameras offer a resolution of 48 MP, with an image resolution of 8064x6048 a horizontal video resolution of 4K/100fps, and a vertical of 2.7K/60fps.

The Air 3 supports JPEG/DNG (RAW) image formats and MP4 (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265) video formats, with a shutter speed for 12MP photos from 1/16,000 to 2 seconds and for 48 MP photos from 1/8000 to 2 seconds. It can record HDR video up to 4K/60 fps and includes a global satellite navigation system with GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou.

Disproelec will deliver each Air 3 with a remote control, three intelligent flight batteries, a pair of noise-reducing propellers, a stabilizer guard, a USB C PD charging cable, a battery charging hub, a carry bag, and memory cards of 128 GB and 64 GB. Additionally, training will be provided for two individuals responsible for operating the drones.

With the rise of drones in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, it's not surprising to see Chile equipping itself with reconnaissance drones, and Chile or other South American countries will likely acquire similar systems in the future.