China Pursues “New Methods” of Drone Combat

By Kris Osborn, President, Warrior

The Chinese military reports its refining a cutting edge ability to network unmanned systems between the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and Army in coordinated, remotely operated drone attack operations. 

Remotely controlling attack drones using datalinks and satellites has of course been possible for decades with the US military, and China is likely to operate with this technologoy as well. What may be a step forward for the Chinese, however, may pertain to the extent of networking and multi-domain connectivity the PLA Air Force is now capable of. 

A Chinese government-backed newspaper called the Global Times says the PLA Air Force has been pioneering new “methods of drone combat” involving operations with other services. 

“Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has been practicing new methods of drone combat, including remote controlled takeoffs and landings and jointly operating with other military services and branches.In a recent exercise held in the deserts of Northwest China, a GJ-2 armed reconnaissance drone conducted reconnaissance and strike training in a realistic combat scenario. The drone operators, operating the drone remotely from a location far away from the airfield, were tasked to search, detect, identify, locate and attack multiple targets within a single sortie,” the Global Times reports.