China has developed a new military surveillance and reconnaissance drone that looks like a real bird and flaps its wings during flight. The biomimetic (mimicking biological structure) drone, which was exhibited at the founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) last August, is designed as an ornithopter resembling a Eurasian sparrow. This innovative drone is capable of operating undetected by the enemy for aerial reconnaissance and intelligence missions.
China has started production of military drones disguised as small birds!
This type of ornithopters are known as aircraft that can carry advanced sensors and are suitable for short-range reconnaissance operations. It is also claimed that they can organise precision attacks against enemy elements with micro warheads. However, the fact that such platforms generally have limited flight range and endurance makes them ideal for short-term and low-altitude surveillance operations.
The spy drone introduced by China was taken out from underwater and released into the air during a demonstration by the PLA’s Naval Commandos. During the demonstration, the drone floated in the air for a few minutes, flapping its wings like a real bird.
In another video, a commando was seen using a larger biomimetic drone the size of a raven or falcon. These designs have great potential in the military field. Because unlike traditional surveillance devices, they are very unlikely to be noticed.
The images of these new biomimetic drones reached Ukraine and were cited by The Kyiv Post as one of the technologies that are ‘difficult to define as a threat in war’. Of course, military technologies that mimic such biological structures are not new for China.
In 2021, China’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) also shared images of underwater spy drones called ‘robo-fish’. China’s continued development of such surveillance technologies increases the importance of invisible and difficult-to-detect unmanned systems on modern battlefields.