China's Military Engineers Train AI Drones to Mimic Animal Combat Tactics
In a groundbreaking development at Beihang University, a military-linked institution in China, engineers have created an artificial intelligence system that teaches defensive drones to attack like hawks and offensive drones to evade like doves. This innovative approach to drone warfare represents a significant leap in autonomous military technology.
Hawks and Doves: A Deadly Simulation
The research team conducted a five-on-five simulation where hawk-like defensive drones targeted the most vulnerable enemy drones, while dove-like attacking drones attempted to evade these predators. The results were startlingly efficient—the hawk drones destroyed all dove drones in just 5.3 seconds. This research earned a patent in April 2024 and forms part of China's broader strategy to deploy AI for running autonomous drone swarms and other unmanned systems.
China's AI Military Revolution
The People's Liberation Army views artificial intelligence as a transformative tool for operating drones, robot dogs, and various robotic systems with minimal human intervention. Chinese military theorists have described the AI era as potentially revolutionary for warfare, envisioning unmanned systems as the primary combat force and swarm operations as the dominant method of engagement. Some theorists have even compared AI's potential impact to that of gunpowder, another Chinese invention that reshaped global warfare centuries ago.
Drone warfare has already proven critical in modern conflicts, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, where drones serve multiple roles as decoys, surveillance tools, and weapons in suicide attacks. China holds a distinct advantage in hardware production, with factories capable of manufacturing over a million low-cost drones annually. This production capacity far exceeds that of the United States, which produces only tens of thousands of drones at significantly higher costs.
Beyond Aerial Swarms: China's Broader AI Ambitions
The PLA's artificial intelligence ambitions extend well beyond aerial drone swarms. Procurement documents reveal plans for mobile cognitive warfare systems capable of broadcasting deepfake videos, deploying robot dogs, and even using directed sound against targets. While this technology remains under development, experts have raised concerns about potential risks if these systems make lethal decisions without human oversight or fail under real-world conditions like electronic warfare or signal jamming.
China's research into biologically-inspired drone technology doesn't stop at hawks and doves. Scientists are studying various animal behaviors—including those of ants, coyotes, sheep, whales, eagles, and fruit flies—to enhance drones' collective action capabilities. Since 2022, Chinese military-linked institutions have filed at least 930 patents related to swarm intelligence, compared to approximately 60 filed in the United States, according to Wall Street Journal reports.
Addressing Human Limitations and Training Gaps
Experts suggest that artificial intelligence could help compensate for gaps in PLA training. "At a tactical level, for concrete missions, there's a growing consensus in Chinese military writings that autonomous systems have the potential to perform better than humans," noted Sunny Cheung from the Jamestown Foundation. China's top-down military structure and limited combat experience among commanders make autonomous drones particularly appealing solutions.
The United States military is also exploring drone swarm technology but maintains a different approach, prioritizing individual drones operating alongside human soldiers rather than fully autonomous swarms. Experts warn that China's combination of advanced AI and massive drone production capacity could enable the PLA to overwhelm enemy defenses in potential conflict scenarios, such as a confrontation over Taiwan.
"You could very easily have this dense amount of firepower up there just constantly scanning and searching and making it very hard for Taiwan to conduct defensive operations," explained Stacie Pettyjohn of the Center for a New American Security.
Ethical Concerns and Algorithmic Risks
While Chinese military thinkers see artificial intelligence as a solution to human limitations, some within China's defense establishment have expressed concerns about potential dangers. Zhu Qichao of China's National Defense University has warned that "once an artificial intelligence weapon system produces safety hazards, the 'algorithm black box' may become a rationalized excuse for the relevant responsible parties to shirk responsibility."
This research represents a significant shift in military technology development, blending biological inspiration with artificial intelligence to create potentially decisive advantages in future conflicts. As nations race to develop autonomous weapons systems, China's approach of mimicking animal behaviors through AI algorithms could redefine the nature of warfare in the coming decades.
