China proposes using thermobaric weapons for combat robots

Beijing [China], February 26: Chinese military experts have proposed equipping robots with thermobaric weapons that have devastating power, second only to nuclear weapons.
According to the South China Morning Post on February 25, recent urban warfare exercises by the Chinese military showed that drones equipped with only light weapons may have difficulty destroying targets shielded in fortified buildings or underground bunkers.
Therefore, to overcome the above situation, Chinese military scientists now propose to equip ground robots with thermobaric warheads - second only to nuclear weapons in terms of lethality.
"Countries racing to develop autonomous systems must solve the problem of human-machine coordination in harsh conditions," said Dang Chenguang, author of a December 2024 study in the Journal of Weapons Equipment Engineering and working at the Norinco Group Research and Testing Institute (China).
Chinese military experts have tested swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAVs ) and ground robots in various combat scenarios on simulated urban battlefields. They said the optimal configuration would include UAVs equipped with electro-optical systems and radars to detect camouflaged targets, serving as "eyes and commanders," while ground robots act as armored beasts carrying thermobaric payloads to scan underground complexes.
The "hierarchical evaluation system" will score units on situational awareness, command control, communications resilience, coordinated attack, and system security. After each attack, UAVs and robots will evaluate "target casualty rates" and "force attrition rates" to optimize the next engagement.
Thermobaric weapons are controversial because they are much more destructive than conventional explosives and have a devastating effect on anyone within the blast radius. "It is essentially a mini nuclear bomb without the radiation," scientists from China's National University of Defense Technology wrote in the People's Daily .
Due to their destructive power and ability to strike targets hidden in buildings or bunkers, thermobaric weapons are primarily used in urban environments.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper