PLA military officers and soldiers operated land-based surveillance and reconnaissance drones during the Spring Festival to strengthen combat readiness drills.
Emerging technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence are changing the face of warfare very quickly, causing the Chinese military to accelerate its integration with foreign military innovation systems. The Ministry of National Defense's budget for next year shows that the Defense Innovation Office plans three "overseas exchanges on defense innovation-related matters" for the first time next year. It will send personnel to the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region to visit defense innovation, military research and private innovation units, and participate in aerospace, drones and defense equipment exhibitions to understand the technological development trends of various countries.
According to the budget document for next year of the Ministry of National Defense, the Defense Innovation Office will have three visits to foreign countries next year. The trip to the United States is expected to take place from April to May next year. Five people will be dispatched for nine days. They will visit national defense military research units, the U.S. defense innovation department and private defense start-up companies to establish exchanges and cooperation channels and serve as a reference for the national military's scientific and technological development planning. The funding is 2.123 million yuan.
The budget document shows that the European trip is expected to be carried out from July to August next year. It will also send 5 people for 9 days. They will visit NATO new development units, air shows, international defense and security equipment exhibitions and national defense weapons exhibitions, etc., to understand the development of innovative science and technology in advanced European countries, and to strengthen business research and official exchanges in key areas, with an allocation of 1.621 million yuan.
As for the Asia-Pacific itinerary, the budget document shows that this itinerary is scheduled to take place from October to November next year. Five people will be dispatched for nine days. They will communicate with Asian innovation units, new industries and think tanks, and participate in aerospace exhibitions, maritime exhibitions, drone annual conferences and national defense equipment exhibitions to learn practical experience. The funding is 1.059 million yuan. A total of 4.803 million yuan was allocated for the three cases.
In fact, recent military conflicts such as the Ukraine-Russia war have highlighted the importance of rapid iteration of unmanned systems, AI and common military and civilian technologies. Therefore, the Ministry of National Defense established the "Defense Innovation Group" (DIO) in February 2024, which was renamed the "Defense Innovation Office" in May this year. It is responsible for evaluating and introducing domestic and foreign mature technologies, products and innovative combat concepts, including unmanned vehicles and autonomy, counter-drone countermeasures, communications and control resilience, AI applications and information security. Five major areas are its development priorities.
