China’s PLA found shooting at drone swarms challenging
Militaries around the world are developing drone swarms that can swamp and destroy enemy targets, and in this first of a kind exercise China's PLA couldn't down them all.
Key takeaways
- In what seems to be a first the Chinese military, which has been testing its capabilities to counter enemy drone swarm attacks, has admitted that accurately hitting the small targets may prove difficult.
- A first round of anti-aircraft artillery launched against a drone swarm during a recent People’s Liberation Army (PLA) training exercise achieved only 40 per cent damage, state broadcaster CCTV reported last week.
- China is among the world’s top military and civilian drone producers.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2024) 'China’s PLA found shooting at drone swarms challenging', 311 Institute, 7 November. Available at: https://www.fanaticalfuturist.com/2024/11/chinas-pla-found-shooting-at-drone-swarms-challenging/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
In what seems to be a first the Chinese military, which has been testing its capabilities to counter enemy drone swarm attacks, has admitted that accurately hitting the small targets may prove difficult.
A first round of anti-aircraft artillery launched against a drone swarm during a recent People’s Liberation Army (PLA) training exercise achieved only 40 per cent damage, state broadcaster CCTV reported last week.
“Shooting at the drone swarms was still quite challenging due to their speed and small size, as well as their ability to change flight trajectories, making it easy for gunners to lose their targets,” Duan Xiaolong, from an unnamed regiment with the PLA Ground Force’s 77th Group Army, was quoted as saying.
China is among the world’s top military and civilian drone producers. In recent years, it has ramped up investment in the development of smarter and faster - including hypersonic - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and other forms of drone technology as such aircraft play a growing role in modern combat.
Meanwhile, the United States, China’s main geopolitical rival, has also paced up drone delivery to its military with its Replicator Program and is working on drone strategies to counter growing Chinese defence capabilities.
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Why does this matter?
Militaries around the world are developing drone swarms that can swamp and destroy enemy targets, and in this first of a kind exercise China's PLA couldn't down them all.
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Matthew Griffin Founder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder, President and Futurist of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
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Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 7 November 2024. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2024). China’s PLA found shooting at drone swarms challenging. 311 Institute. https://www.fanaticalfuturist.com/2024/11/chinas-pla-found-shooting-at-drone-swarms-challenging/
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