In recent years, the cost of many drones has dropped to the point that many military models are infinitely cheaper than the missile that tries to shoot them down. At the same time, advances in artificial intelligence have allowed relatively simple machines execute tasks that previously required entire human teams.
In China they have taken an unprecedented step towards the war of the future.
The next step. Yes, Beijing just taught in a video something that goes far beyond the individual drone: a coordinated swarm of up to 96 units which works like a single system intelligent at a devilish speed.
This is not about launching devices, but about orchestrating a distributed air force where each drone has a role and all act as a single organism, marking a clear leap towards a dominated war by software, algorithms and autonomy. The demonstration also leaves a clear idea: the future will not be a more advanced drone, but rather many drones working together as if they were one.
The “kill chain” converted into a single system. As can be seen, the Atlas system integrates a single sequence the entire combat process, from detection to attack, eliminating traditional intermediate steps along the way.
In the test, the swarm identified a target among several similar ones, made decisions autonomously and executed a precise attack in mid-flight, displaying a chain of destruction continuous and automated. There is no doubt, this approach completely transforms war, because it is no longer a question of isolated platforms, but of complete systems capable of to perceive, decide and act without interruptions.
Science fiction. The heart of the system is its deployability: we are talking about a vehicle that can launch drones at a rate of one every three secondsquickly generating a critical mass in the air. This technical detail is key, because it allows one to be built in a matter of minutes. dense and coordinated formationone capable of saturating defenses or executing complex attacks.
It is, therefore, not just speed, it is the ability to turn a launch into a controlled avalanche of perfectly synchronized units.
A swarm that thinks and reorganizes itself. As we said, each drone is equipped with algorithms that allow you to communicateshare information and adapt in real time, avoiding collisions and adjusting your position within the group.
Besides, can be reassigned during the mission, changing functions as the combat evolves, which introduces unprecedented flexibility in conflicts. In other words, this kind of “collective brain” turns the swarm into something closer to a distributed intelligence than to a set of independent machines.
Algorithmic control. They had something in the PLA that already we had seen beforethat one of the most profound changes has to do with the fact that a single operator can control the entire system, delegating complex tasks such as target recognition, mission assignment or route planning to artificial intelligence.
This reduces human burden and accelerates decision times to levels that are difficult to match by traditional systems. War thus goes from depending on operators to depending on previously trained algorithms.
Attack and defend in another way. Plus: the system allows combine different types of drones in the same mission, from reconnaissance to electronic warfare and attack, creating staggered waves capable of overcoming defenses or penetrating in depth.
That is to say, for either side, progress blurs the line. between front and rear and forces us to completely rethink anti-aircraft defenses, which no longer face just one missile or drone, but dozens of them acting in a coordinated manner.
A new and disturbing scenario where the real weapon is no longer the drone itself, but the system that connects them.
Image | CCTV
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