What new weapons on show at huge parade say about China’s military strength

China has unveiled a range of new weapons, drones and other military hardware in a massive parade that many see as a clear message to the United States and its allies.

The event saw Xi Jinping host more than 20 foreign heads of state, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, both of whom rely on China for economic support and more.

It was a display of Xi’s growing power on the world stage, and of China’s military prowess – the show included the “Guam killer” missile, the “loyal wingman” drone and even robotic wolves.

Beyond the hype and shiny new weaponry, what did we learn?

Here are our five takeaways.

What was clear from Wednesday’s display was that China has been able to quickly produce a diverse range of weapons.

Ten years ago, the military technology they put on show tended to be “rudimentary copies” of far more advanced equipment invented by the US, notes Michael Raska, assistant professor in the military transformations programme at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore.

But this parade revealed a more innovative and diverse range of weapons, particularly drones and missiles – a reflection of how advanced their defence-industrial complex has become.

China’s top-down structure and significant resources enable it to churn out new weapons faster than many other countries, points out Alexander Neill, an adjunct fellow with the Pacific Forum.

It can also produce them in huge quantities, giving it a battlefield advantage where it can overwhelm the enemy.

“China has the ability to churn out munitions, ships, all these platforms… the state can just make these directives and off they go,” Mr Neill says.

But how well can China’s military integrate these weapons systems?

“They can show off these flashy advanced platforms, but are they organisationally agile to use them in the way they want to?” Dr Raska asks.

He adds that it won’t be easy because the Chinese military is massive and untested, given it has not been involved in a significant war for decades.

China has rolled out plenty of missiles, including some new variants.

These include the Dongfeng-61, which is capable of carrying multiple warheads in its nosecone; the Dongfeng-5C intercontinental ballistic missile which could be launched from northern China and hit the US; and the “Guam Killer” Dongfeng-26D intermediate range missile, which could hit key US military bases in Guam.

There were also several hypersonic anti-ship missiles such as the YJ-17 and YJ-19, which can fly very fast and maneuver unpredictably to evade anti-missile systems.

There’s a reason for this focus on missiles.

China has been developing missiles and rocket forces as a key part of its deterrence strategy – and to counter the US’ naval superiority, Mr Neill says.

The US Navy is unrivalled in the world with the largest fleet of aircraft carriers and carrier strike groups – China still lags behind on that count.

But, Mr Neill points out, some in the Western defence community are increasingly arguing that these strike groups are vulnerable, as they are effectively “sitting ducks” for any missile attacks.

Beijing is not only strengthening deterrence, but is also creating a “second strike capability,” he says – a country’s ability to launch a retaliatory strike if attacked.

Other notable weapons included the much-talked about LY-1 laser weapon, which is basically a giant laser that could burn or disable electronics or even blind pilots; and an assortment of fifth-generation stealth fighter jets including the J-20 and J-35 planes.

There were a wide range of drones, some of them AI-powered, but the one that grabbed eyeballs was the AJX-002 giant submarine drone.

Also known as an extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV) measuring up to 20m (65ft) in length, it could possibly do surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

China also showed off its GJ-11 stealth attack drone, dubbed the “loyal wingman”, which can fly alongside a manned fighter jet and aid it in its attacks.

Besides an array of conventional aerial drones, there were also “robotic wolves”. Experts say these could be used for a variety of tasks from reconnaissance and sweeping for mines, to hunting down enemy soldiers.

The drone display shows a clear direction that China wants to take with its military strategy, where it “not only wants to augment, but replace traditional structures”.

It has clearly taken lessons from the Ukraine war, where one can “just throw drones at the enemy” to wear down their defences, Dr Raska notes.

“Alacrity in the kill chain matters,” adds Mr Neill, pointing out that in a fast-moving battle, decisions have to be made in “nanoseconds” to defeat the enemy and gain the upper hand – which is what AI can do.

Many countries are still concerned about deploying AI in their military systems and asking “how comfortable are we in putting AI in the kill chain”, he adds.

But China is very comfortable with that, Dr Raska says. “They believe they can control AI. They are going all the way to integrate it into their systems.”

The parade clearly shows that China is catching up quickly with the US in its military technology, and has the resources to build up a huge arsenal of weapons.

But the US still maintains an edge in terms of operations, experts say.

The US military “excels” because there is a “bottom-up” culture where units on the ground can make decisions as the situation evolves and alter their fighting strategies, Dr Raska notes. This makes them more agile in a battle.

China, on the other hand, is “top-down” where “they can have flashy platforms and systems but they will not move a finger until they receive an order from the top”, he adds.

“The Chinese think its technology that creates deterrence. They believe that will deter the US… but at the operational level, there have been instances which show they may not be as good as they say they are”, Dr Raska says, pointing to recent encounters such as an incident last month when a Chinese warship rammed one of its own smaller vessels as they confronted the Philippine coast guard.

With the leaders of more than two dozen countries invited to the event, the parade of weapons and tanks was essentially a giant sales pitch on Chinese arms to potential buyers, Mr Neill points out.

Some of the countries in attendance such as Myanmar are already known to be buying huge quantities of Chinese weapons. But the chance to sell to new customers or increase orders is how the Chinese government can extend its influence globally, Dr Raska notes.

Among the key clients were those standing front and centre with Xi – Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.

The three presented a united front as they walked to the parade together and stood on stage.

That was a message to the US, Mr Neill says: if America wanted to really challenge them it would mean “fighting them on several potential theatres at the same time – the Korean peninsula, Taiwan Straits, and Ukraine”.

“And if you consider it, putting pressure on the US on all three domains, it may fail in one of those theatres.”