The Ukraine war has established the drones and others autonomous vehicles as a decisive weapon on the battlefield and armies around the world are modifying their military doctrines to adapt to this new paradigm. China has carried out a military exercise to Evaluate the response of their artillery systems against a swarm of dronesand the result is far from satisfactory: failed 60% of the objectivesaccording to CCTV, China’s state television.
During testing, the People’s Liberation ArmyEPL, deployed its latest systems of anti-drone artillery to test its combat performance. As the 40% hit rate indicates, it was not as effective as the PLA had hoped. ‘Firing against swarms of drones It is still quite challenging due to its speed and small size.as well as its ability to change flight pathsmaking it easier for gunners lose their targets‘, he explained Duan Xiaolongfrom an unidentified regiment of the PLA Ground Force’s 77th Army Group, to CCTV.
According to the commander Cui Yangfrom the PLA regiment responsible for the tests, this air defense training exercise was conducted to evaluate the anti-drone defense capabilities at various distances and to identify problems for future exercises.
The South China Morning Post, SCMP, reports a military comment posted on WeChat, pointing out that the artillery used in the exercise It could have been from older models from the 90s or 2000swhich would have affected the hit rate.
He also noted that the use of electronic jamming systems, surface-to-air missiles and automatic rifles would improve outcomes. Drone swarms, which consist of large numbers of drones operating together, pose a unique and new challenge to defense systems.
USAfor its part, also lacks sufficient anti-drone detection and defense systems capable of effectively tracking and neutralizing multiple drones simultaneously. To this end, Chinese researchers have developed drones that can separate into multiple vehicles in the airwhich can confuse air defense systems.
China has also invested heavily in developing unmanned aerial vehicles. more advanced and high speedalong with other drone technologies in recent years. The United States has accelerated drone deliveries to its military and is developing UAV strategies to counter China’s growing defense capabilities.
However, although Beijing has made significant progress in its drone capabilities, the outcome of this training exercise indicates that needs to strengthen its anti-drone capabilities and focus on new technologies and tactics. For this purpose, SCMP reports that Chinese manufacturers have been urged to step up efforts to produce smarter and more efficient anti-drone weapons.including exploring technologies such as electronic jamming and lasers. Efforts will also likely include an increased focus on training and developing anti-drone swarm tactics.