China’s infantry units are adapting to the growing threat from drones, with some brigades introducing compulsory counter-drone training, new equipment and fresh tactics to help soldiers evade aerial surveillance and attacks.
The latest example comes from a brigade of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) 75th Group Army, which has made counter-drone training compulsory after an exercise exposed how troops relying on traditional camouflage were vulnerable to drone-directed artillery strikes.
According to a report published by the state-run PLA Daily on Monday, a drone equipped with thermal imaging sensors spotted infantrymen concealed beneath jungle vegetation and transmitted their positions to an opposing artillery unit, resulting in heavy simulated casualties and mission failure.