As Russia sends swarms of drones to Ukraine, China plans its next evolution in the unmanned aerial vehicles that are being a crucial part in the country’s security and an important advance throughout the world.
Kamikaze models have been seen on the battlefield, with artificial intelligence and even some that use fiber optic cables instead of wireless connections, but what is new is more impressive.
Will the armed forces now be led by robots? The recent revelation from the aforementioned Asian country points once again towards the future, by demonstrating that hundreds of drones can be controlled by a single soldier.
It is not only about the synchronization of use, but they have systems that allow each of the devices to act on their own.
The technology implemented is key for various actions, such as supply transport and large scale attacksbeing able to travel long distances to achieve their objectives without interruptions and here is the information that has been officially revealed by the security forces.
This is how the new Swarm system works: more than 200 autonomous drones controlled by a single operator
He People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has presented the operation of the High Mobility Swarm Weapon System (Swarm)but with an impressive amount of unmanned aerial vehicles that can be controlled by a single soldier.
First of all, there is the Swarm I of 2021, which consists of manipulating up to 48 drones simultaneously that serve for basic formations, with autonomy and speed limited to 70 km/h.
The other is the Swarm II, the improved version of 2024, capable of reaching 100 km/h with battery and fuel efficiency extended to one hour. This in particular works for the autonomous management of tasks and, instead of manipulating small groups, it is possible to make massive launches of more than 200 on a single operator network.
Although they are technologies developed some time ago, according to the media South China Morning Postthe impressive thing about this is that they have been put to the test on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Xiang Xiaojia, investigador de la School of Intelligent Sciences of the National University of Defense Technologyhas mentioned on the same channel that each of the drones has an “intelligent algorithm.”
“A single person can control a swarm of more than 200 fixed-wing drones launched simultaneously from multiple vehicles.”
The artificial intelligence integrated into these devices allows the soldier to take care of the swarm of hundreds of drones at the same time with “control by effect.”
Why is it so impressive? Unlike the traditional use where the operator who handles the drone separately (one by one) With a remote control, he manipulates the swarm with direct orders and they all adapt to the objective.
Autonomously, the group of drones divides the tasks to carry out the mission, soor require prior configuration or manual directinge.
The order is only given and a small group is in charge of investigating, another of attacking and another of transporting things according to what is needed, for example.
The most impressive thing about all this is that the system is resistant to interference, since the AI continues to work without problems even if communication is lost or suffer attacks. They simply adapt to the situation and continue with their jobs.
This is undoubtedly an important advance that could motivate the United States and the United Kingdom to continue devising new anti-drone tactics or several countries in Europe with concern about the situation with the evolution of these devices.