China eyes anti-drone technology as key to future battlefield success

The PLA has been keeping a close eye on how the weapons have been used in wars such as Ukraine

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The domestic Chinese anti-drone market is “booming”, according to one industry figure. Photo: SCMP

Published: 10:00pm, 11 Aug 2024Updated: 10:23pm, 11 Aug 2024

China’s military and private manufacturers have been urged to ramp up efforts to produce anti-drone weapons after seeing how effective they have been in the Ukraine war.

The People’s Liberation Army has been watching closely how the technology has been employed on the battlefield, and has been testing its own capabilities in regular exercises.

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The official military newspaper, The PLA Daily, has reported on some of these drills, the most recent being carried out in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.

Another article in May highlighted some of the technology being studied, including Britain’s DragonFire, a high-powered laser weapon that was successfully tested in January.

The military has also published regular articles about the use of the technology in conflicts such as Ukraine and Gaza.

One article in June argued that “through the study of local wars in recent years, it is found that foreign militaries usually adopt detection, electronic jamming … and other means to implement anti-UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] operations, and often achieve good results”.