A unit of the People's Armed Police Force of China, which is a paramilitary branch of the internal troops, has unveiled its own workshop for assembling, repairing, and modifying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It seems China has adopted the experience of russia and Ukraine, where similar workshops are widespread.
Footage released by China Central Television (CCTV-7) shows military personnel assembling drone frames and testing camera and antenna placements in the so-called "UAV innovation studio." They also use 3D printers to design and manufacture various components for drones.
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However, the facility is noteworthy not just for its existence. The footage shows work on fiber-optic drones, highlighting China's rapid adaptation to today’s realities and signaling the end of an era when drones were countered solely by electronic warfare.
Some assume the experience needed for creating such a studio and new drone models was gained by directly cooperating with the russians. It would only be logical, considering the two countries' active partnerships in many other areas, including the supply of equipment and components for weapons production.
Field workshops in russia and Ukraine are used to refine or modify unmanned platforms to meet the requirements of military units. It is also possible to develop proprietary systems there, which accelerates innovation but may lead to standardization issues between units, as each of them creates its own systems.
It should be noted that the workshop was showcased by state media, likely for propaganda purposes mostly, so it's not easy to assess the actual scale of this initiative yet. However, the opportunities and threats arising from such widespread and rapid UAV adaptation by one of the world's most powerful militaries should not be underestimated, especially given its capacity to supply weapons to russia.
Earlier, Defense Express covered a retrospective story of how China once considered buying 36 russian Tu-22M3 strategic bombers for $1.5 billion in the 2010s and how it went down.
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