PLA Unveils New Unmanned Weapons Aimed at Taiwan at the Zhuhai Airshow

By:

Age: 1 day

UAV on-ground static display at the 15th Zhuhai Airshow. (Source: Global Times)

Executive Summary:

  • The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has been developing drone technology specifically for use in a Taiwan contingency, some of which was on display at the Zhuhai Airshow in November.
  • The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is framing the country’s rapid expansion of its unmanned systems capabilities as having a deterrent effect on the United States, suggesting it has caused the US military to scale back supposed plans for a drone-based “Hellscape” strategy in the Taiwan Strait.
  • Statements by PLA officers and military commentators demonstrate confidence in what they see as the PRC’s superior drone capacity, noting that three quarters of drone components come from the PRC.

Central Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping recently made a visit to airborne troops (空降兵军) in Hubei, whose original mission is to liberate Taiwan (81.cn, November 26, 2019; Taiwan Work Office, November 6). Chang Yen-ting (張延廷), a former deputy commander of Taiwan’s Air Force, believes that the PRC has been using drones to conduct reconnaissance operations on the island’s eastern side. In the last 18 months, data from Taiwan’s defense ministry show that the PLA has deployed more drones to the island’s eastern seaboard, with one flying 39 nautical miles from Hualien, the closest a PLA drone had ever approached the Taiwan’s eastern county up to that point (Xinhua, June 13; SCMP, December 13).

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; 中国人民解放军空军) has been developing drone technology specifically for use in a battle over Taiwan, some of which was showcased at the 15th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (十五届中国国际航空航天博览会) in November, hereafter referred to as the “Zhuhai Airshow (珠海航展)” (China Daily, November 15). In any conflict in the Taiwan Strait, unmanned systems will be critical. The war in Ukraine, considered the first full-scale drone war, has decisively proven the impact unmanned aerial systems can have in modern conflicts (EDM, October 16). As an island, war in the Taiwan Strait will involve aerial as well as marine and other unmanned systems (Liberty Times, December 8).

Range of Unmanned Systems on Display in Zhuhai

The PLA services, including its Army, Air Force, and Navy, have commissioned a variety of unmanned systems. At the Zhuhai Airshow, the PLAAF displayed 36 different types of equipment, including a “new type of search and strike drone (新型察打一体无人机),” according to the Ministry of National Defense’s Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaoguang (张晓刚) (China Daily, November 15). No Western media were allowed to attend the airshow, which showcased unmanned systems as well as a variety of anti-drone (Liberty Times, December 8).

Two of the PRC’s main defense industry players, state-owned China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO; 中国兵器工业集团) and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC; 中国航天科工集团), unveiled new anti-drone weapons. These products are purported to be able to destroy drones’ electronic systems at a range of up to three kilometers, with CASIC claiming its system can deal with up to 10,000 targets at a time. NORINCO also unveiled an unmanned combat ground vehicle, called the “‘Roaring Sky-100’ four-legged ‘Robot Wolf’ (‘哮天-100’四足型‘机器狼’).” According to a video on X, this robot can obey real-time voice commands (X/@WenJian0922, November 9). In a Taiwan scenario, teams of these robots could work alongside unmanned tank swarms to clear the resistance in Taiwanese cities and pave the way for PLA forces (Liberty Times, December 8).

The PLA also unveiled a 420-ton unmanned surface vehicle, the JARI USV-A. This vehicle can launch anti-ship or land-attack missiles, as well as provide a launchpad for reconnaissance drones such as the Z-5B. It could be used to clear small naval vessels blocking a potential invasion route. Another state-owned conglomerate, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC; 中国航空工业集团), displayed a 16 ton drone with a six ton payload that has a range of up to 8,000 kilometers, and a “bomb bay” that can carry air-launched ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC; 中国船舶集团) displayed a 450 ton unmanned submarine—its own version of Boeing’s ultra-large unmanned underwater vehicle (XLUUV) (Boeing, accessed December 18).

PRC Seeks to Deter A US ‘Hellscape’ Strategy

In June 2024, Admiral Paparo of US Indo-Pacific Command, claimed that a strategy called “Hellscape” would see the United States swarm the Taiwan Strait with unmanned systems in the event of a conflict (The Washington Post, June 10). (More recently, Paparo has clarified that drones would be a contributing, not decisive, factor in a Taiwan contingency (Brookings, December 6).) In response, Zhang Xiaogang (张晓刚), spokesperson for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ministry of National Defense, said that it would be useless for Taiwan to buy drone technology from the United States because the PLA has better unmanned technology, production capacity, and inventory (Global Times, October 31; Reference News, November 25).

Military commentators in the PRC have cast doubt on the plan and on the utility of US sales of drones to Taiwan. In the summer, Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian (吴谦) used typically fiery rhetoric to suggest that “those who call for turning other people’s homes into hellscapes must first be prepared to go to hell themselves (那些叫嚣要把别人的家园变成地狱的人，首先要做好自己先下地狱的准备)” and that a US attempt to turn the Taiwan Strait into a hellscape would be “extremely deranged (极为丧心病狂)” (CCTV, August 24). Meanwhile, Du Wenlong (杜文龙), a former PLA officer and public-facing military expert, has argued that the plan is a “placebo (安慰剂)” for the Taiwan authorities and is unlikely to become a reality. He claims the United States does not have the capacity to execute such a plan and that its current unmanned fleet has not produced substantial results. He also mocked the United States, claiming it will be unable to make the requisite drones as 75 percent of the world’s component parts come from the PRC.

Du Wenlong noted that the Zhuhai Airshow showcased the PRC’s spectrum of “large, medium, and small, fast and slow, stealthy and non-stealthy drones, which the US military does not currently have” (CCTV, August 24). Following the airshow, PRC media claims that its advanced capabilities in unmanned systems caused the United States to scale back its plans (Reference News, November 25). No US media has commented on any such change in US strategy.

Conclusion

PRC media is framing the country’s rapid expansion of its unmanned systems capabilities and development of its low-altitude economy as having a deterrent effect on the United States. Specifically, PRC military analysts such as Zheng Ji-Wen (郑继文) claim says that such developments have caused Admiral Paparo to adjust the alleged “Hellscape” strategy that would see heavy reliance on drones in the event of a Taiwan contingency (CRNTT, November 27).

Battlefield tactics in Ukraine and the current PRC defense industry focus on drones indicate that unmanned systems will be consequential in a war over Taiwan or any conflict involving the PRC. Analysts should focus on the biannual Zhuhai Airshow and other such industry events to ascertain details about many of the PLA’s latest capabilities in this domain.