The Chinese military is using drones and 3D printing to support the remote maintenance of weapons, a tactic that has been used by the US in the Ukraine war, according to the PLA Daily.
Advertisement
A brigade of the People’s Liberation Army’s Northern Theatre Command Air Force tested remote maintenance technology during an equipment repair drill, the official Chinese military media outlet said on Wednesday. It did not specify when or where the exercise took place.
During the training, soldiers “applied new technologies, methods and equipment such as 3D printing and drones to the entire equipment maintenance process”, the report said.
02:08
Taiwan agrees to buy 1,000 killer drones from US one day after PLA blockade drills
Taiwan agrees to buy 1,000 killer drones from US one day after PLA blockade drills
An equipment maintenance team used a 3D printer to recreate damaged parts at the back end, and then supported the front line using methods such as drone delivery, the report said.
China is competing fiercely with the US-led West in many areas, including technology and the military.
The US is also applying these remote maintenance tactics as it supports Ukraine.
Advertisement
According to the US publication Defence News, after supplying weapons to Ukraine, the US military provided remote maintenance support based in Poland to help Ukrainian frontline soldiers repair damaged weapons in Kyiv’s fight against Moscow’s invasion.
A report by the publication last year said the US military was trying to extend remote maintenance technology to the Indo-Pacific theatre. It quoted a senior general as saying: “It has been a great enabler to the warfight in Ukraine … It’s one of the game changers in a sense.”