China showed the world an indecent amount of unpublished artillery. But the most advanced weapons remained hidden

Yesterday We enumerate And we draw the Route of China in the field of military arsenal during the parade that commemorated the 80th anniversary of the victory over Japan and the end of World War II. As We countthe message was quite clear and forceful, showing a part of the power achieved by the popular liberation army in its accelerated modernization.

However, more than one AS was left in the sleeve.

The hidden power. Some of those developments that have not already showed them here, others not so muchbut everyone has something in common: they are the most advanced weapons of the nation, hence their concealment in public light. Many of them remain in secret because they are still in the development phase, for their strategic sensitivity or because they cannot be exhibited in an event of these characteristics.

What was seen in the Tiananmén Square was just a fraction of the real capacity of the Chinese Armed Forces, which in parallel develop disruptive technologies with deep implications for the future war.

Aviation and “the” electromagnetic. We have treated it. China is testing site generation fighters, provisionally known as J-36 and J-50that after their inaugural flights they have continued in the trial phase, and whose level of sophistication remains under strict secrecy.

Similarly, prototypes of Riel and coil cannonscapable of intercepting hypersonic and ballistic missiles at low cost, they are too limited in size and are restricted to large ships, making it impossible for their deployment in a terrestrial parade. The reusable space vehicle is also hidden, in Tests since 2020an analogous platform to the American X-37b which can remain months in orbit and meet classified military missions.

What we did not see of naval power. Naval modernization has been central since the last parade of 2019, with the launch of the Fujian aircraft carriersthe construction of Future Type 004and the amphibious assault ships Type 075 and Type 076.

To these is added the development of Strategic Submarine Type 096which will reinforce maritime nuclear deterrence in the next decade. None of these platforms can roll through Tiananmén, although some of its weapons and aircraft systems could be shown.

Cyberdefense and Digital War. The PL considers cyberdefense one of the pillars of its national security. Since the creation in 2015 of the Strategic Support Force and, in 2024, of the new Cyberspace ForceChina has centralized intelligence, cyber attack operations and critical infrastructure defense.

Although the parade It included winks To these “new forms of combat”, the authentic arsenal of cyber -cyberms and offensive capabilities, what is doubtful, will remain hidden, leaving in the shadow the true magnitude of Chinese digital operations.

AI and autonomous systems. Artificial intelligence integration is a strategic priority. The Pla Work in algorithms To process real -time combat data, optimize logistics and maintenance, and generate training scenarios.

Attack and recognition drones as the GJ-11the Wing Loong and The Rainbow They already incorporate autonomous navigation, recognition of objectives and coordination with other platforms. Although some of these devices will be shown, their algorithmic “brain” will remain invisible to the public.

Nuclear deterrence. China deployed Intercontinental Balistic missiles and strategic bombers as a gesture of strength, but the true pillars of their nuclear deterrence did not come to light.

The command, control and communications systems, designed to resist a first blow, the reinforced silos of the northwest, the vast network of underground tunnels known as known as The “Great Underground Wall” and nuclear submarines armed with ballistic missiles, both the TYPE-094A assets and The future Type-096.

Early alert and antimisile defense. China currently has a strategic network that combines infrared alert satellites capable of detecting ballistic releases anywhere in the world and huge fixed matrix radars, capable of tracking missiles and furtive aircraft in full flight.

These systems are vital for strategic defense And they have already overcome multiple interception tests since 2010, but their static and highly classified nature keeps them out of the parade.

The “great underground wall.” As we said before, in parallel, China builds a underwater surveillance system With hydrophones, sensor nodes and autonomous vehicles to monitor enemy submarines in the Eastern and South China Sea.

This framework, known as the “Great Underwater Wall”, is essential to guarantee the safety of its nuclear submarine fleet and reinforce its anti -submarine capacity. Its existence is intuited, but its location and operation remain in the strictest secret.

And space. With more than 500 satellites military and double useChina is trying to achieve independence in navigation with Beidou, recognition capabilities with the Yaogan series and safe communications for command and control.

It also develops antisatellite weapons, from direct ascent missiles tested in 2007 even orbital proximity maneuvers and possible directed energy weapons. None of these systems appeared in the parade, but represent a key vector of their “computerized” war strategy.

The industrial force. It We comment yesterday. China’s greatest hidden trick is not only technological but industrial. The ability to produce in its own territory from rifles to aircraft carriers, through reaction engines and hypersonic missiles, ensures independenceresilience and speed of production. The Military-Civil Fusion Strategy allows civil advances in defense, as occurs in aeronautical engines, where the experience of the CJ-1000A Commercial feeds the development of The WS-10 and WS-15 that drive the J-20 furtive fighters.

In short, the parade showed the world a Power showcasebut the most lethal and transformer of the Chinese armed forces was hidden. Under the surface, in tunnels, in satellites, in monitored seas and in high -tech factories, there is a framework of capacities that seeks to redefine global military balance in the next decades.

Image | Planet Labs Inc, @WZZJWZ, Office of Naval Research (Flickr), X, Infinty 0 , Ministry of National Defense The People’s Republic of China/ Li Gang/ Xinhua

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