Chinese Army Showcases 200-Drone Swarm Controlled By Single Operator

The Chinese military has claimed rapid advances in drone warfare, showcasing test results that one soldier could handle 200 drones using AI technology.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has released fresh details of its tests of AI-enabled drone swarm warfare, saying a single soldier can control a swarm of more than 200 drones.

In a defence news programme aired on Tuesday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV released details of a drone swarm test conducted by the PLA-affiliated National University of Defence Technology.

Drone swarm warfare relies on artificial intelligence and data links to launch hundreds of drones in a short time. These drones could fly in precise formations and divide tasks via autonomous algorithms, allowing them to simultaneously conduct multi-target reconnaissance and strike operations, the report said.

The CCTV reported that through extensive offline training using both simulators and actual flights, the drone swarm developed strong autonomous intelligence, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Friday.

The footage showed researchers monitoring the live status of multiple drones from a screen, with each described as being able to switch between reconnaissance, distraction and striking tasks, the report said.

Xiang Xiaojia, a research fellow in the school of intelligent science at the National University of Defence Technology, told CCTV that "each drone is equipped with an intelligent algorithm. Through interconnection and autonomous negotiation, they can form a powerful, collaborative intelligent swarm." Xiang added that an autonomous anti-jamming algorithm had been developed and tested in an electromagnetic interference environment so that even when interfered with, drones equipped with this algorithm could autonomously plan flight paths and conduct swarm coverage searches.

The Post report said the new intelligent control module allowed drones launched by Swarm I to perform a precise division of labour and cooperation, with some conducting reconnaissance, some jamming and acting as decoys and others responsible for attack.

“Even a single person can control a swarm of more than 200 fixed-wing drones launched simultaneously from multiple vehicles,” it quoted the CCTV report.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)