By Emelia S. Probasco
Publication Date: 2026-03-02 05:00:00
At China’s victory parade in September 2025, it wasn’t the marching troops or rolling tanks that made headlines, but rather the next-generation weapons systems on display. Unmanned ground vehicles, underwater and aerial drones, and collaborative fighter aircraft – autonomous jets that fly alongside manned aircraft to support missions – have been unveiled as core components of China’s future combat force. The display of these systems sent a message about how the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) plans to use new technologies to gain an advantage on the battlefield. Seen from Washington, the parade underscored Beijing’s desire to undermine the U.S. technological edge.
China has said its long-planned military modernization will occur in three distinct but overlapping phases: mechanization, or the introduction of modern machinery and equipment; Informatization, or the integration of advanced information technologies and cyber networks to connect military platforms and…
