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The People’s Liberation Army 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.
CCTV reported that through extensive offline training using both simulators and actual flights, the drone swarm developed strong autonomous intelligence.
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 drones can divide tasks between themselves, according to the CCTV report. Photo: CCTV
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.
In the footage, after electromagnetic interference knocked out the drone swarm’s ability to navigate and communicate, the drones entered autonomous mode for offline swarm searches for the enemy and to guide the launch of loitering munitions.
The programme highlighted China’s Swarm I land vehicle, known as a High Mobility Swarm Weapon System, as an important practical achievement in the field. CCTV said Swarm I could launch 48 fixed-wing drones as loitering munitions at once to operate in the air as a drone swarm.
According to the footage, the fixed-wing drones launched by Swarm I closely resemble American Switchblade drones.
The 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,” CCTV reported.
Swarm I, a model that first appeared at the 2021 Zhuhai air show, is described by its manufacturer as containing tube-launched unmanned loitering munitions capable of autonomous flight with planned trajectories.
The Chinese military magazine Ordnance Science and Technology reported in 2023 that Swarm I could carry out wide-area reconnaissance and saturation strikes against multiple targets, improving the PLA’s ability to strike time-sensitive targets.
The newer variant, Swarm II, which debuted at the Zhuhai air show in 2024, can reportedly carry reconnaissance, munitions and relay communication payloads, has a speed of 100km/h (62 miles per hour) and can remain airborne for more than 60 minutes.
At the time, CCTV reported that the Swarm II drone could be operated by one person at a range of 150km (93 miles) and had already entered military trials. Its launch interval is reportedly less than 5 seconds, and the launch time for all 48 fixed-wing drones is less than 4 minutes.
The United States military is also pursuing drone swarm tactics, including in scenarios that may concern Taiwan that US military officials have dubbed a “hellscape” strategy to outnumber the PLA with drones.
According to a 2024 Associated Press report, a published Pentagon-backed study said that during an urban warfare exercise in Tennessee in late 2021, a single operator controlled a swarm of more than 100 drones.
Project coordinator Julie Adams, an Oregon State University robotics professor, was quoted as saying that the swarm commander in the exercise could coordinate the operations of up to 133 ground and air vehicles simultaneously.
These drones were preprogrammed to semi-autonomously execute a range of tactics, including indoor reconnaissance and simulated enemy kills.
