China Aerospace Studies Institute October 2023
Survey of PRC Drone Swarm Inventions
Maj Emilie B. Stewart
This work builds upon CASI’s 2018 The PLA’s Unmanned Aerial Systems: New
Capabilities for a “New Era” of Chinese Military Power by Elsa Kania
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and is intended to
specifically address the Chinese capacity for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm innovation,
tactics, and mission sets.
In December 2018, China unveiled its drone light show at the World Fortune Forum in
Guangzhou. Then, in 2022, China Daily News released footage of a Zhejiang University team’s
drone swarm following a notional target through a bamboo forest. Additionally, in mid-2022,
Chinese press reported drones capable of launching and swarming from the Shandong aircraft
carrier. Because of these events, members of the U.S. Department of Defense and their partners
and allies began speculating on China’s intent and capabilities to use swarm technology during
future conflict. However, China’s defense apparatus has not publicly released plans for drone
swarm doctrine, strategy, or research and development that would point to how such systems
would specifically be used.
This paper presents the findings from surveying unclassified Chinese patent records to
gain better understanding of Chinese drone swarm employment plans, advancements, and
challenges. It is meant to be an exploratory study, one that evaluates Chinese inventions—both
applied for and granted patents—to eliminate unknown unknowns and provide a foundation for
future analysis.
Introduction
When it comes to discussing “swarms,” many potential behaviors come to mind.
Everything from the nano swarm impersonating an individual depicted in Michael Crichton’s
novel “Prey,”
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to simply a large number of individual drones with no coordinating ability. This
study will specifically address a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), much like bees and
birds behave, that is both relatively autonomous and collaborative, or what the United States Air
Force (USAF) has termed collaborative combat aircraft–(CCAs) or Autonomous Collaborative
Platforms (ACPs).
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This is different from the kinds of “proto-swarms” seen in recent combat,
