China-India border dispute: PLA looks to private innovators to give troops the edge
- 22 Chinese manufacturers invited by PLA to showcase advances in smart weapons, unmanned vehicles, drone jammers and more
- Continued border tension with India in the Himalayas make auto-heating clothing and oxygen generators of particular interest to China as winter descends
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Tibet military district, which oversees the east and middle sections of the disputed border with India, has invited 22 Chinese manufacturers of intelligent products to potentially supply its armed forces with unmanned smart weapons and other specialised equipment, state television CCTV reported on Thursday.
These companies have developed products for a high-altitude, low-temperature plateau environment, including reconnaissance and strike drones, transport drones, drone jammers, auto-heating clothing, portable oxygen generators and even automatic bread makers, the broadcaster said. Private suppliers took part in a display to the PLA to show how their innovations worked and might fit PLA strategy.
“These … could effectively improve the unmanned warfare and logistics support in the Tibet region,” CCTV reported.
The fixed-winged and rotor-winged drones made by civilian developers, although smaller and with lower firepower than the PLA’s large military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), were tailor-made for the plateau and the border troops’ needs, such as supply delivery, border patrol and surveillance and armed reconnaissance in the rugged mountains, it was reported.
