China's Burgeoning Drone Arsenal Shows Power of Civil-Military Fusion

Article/Op-Ed in Defense One
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June 17, 2025

New America Strategist and ASU Professor of Practice Peter W. Singer wrote with John S. Van Oudenaren on China's fusion of military and civilian work on drones:

As the Russia-Ukraine war has demonstrated, drones have gone from auxiliary players to game-changers in contemporary warfare. Should China ever move on Taiwan, the PRC would likely deploy UAVs on a scale unseen in human history. This would be made possible by China’s large civilian drone industry built up through military-civil fusion. And should the conflict drag on, China’s enormous manufacturing capacity would be a huge advantage. The recent executive orders signed at the White House may be a step toward mitigating that advantage—but they are just one step in a long race to catch up.

Read the full article here.