How are Chinese infantry units training to survive drone-filled battlefields?

China’s infantry units are adapting to the growing threat from drones, with some brigades introducing compulsory counter-drone training, new equipment and fresh tactics to help soldiers evade aerial surveillance and attacks.

The latest example comes from a brigade of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) 75th Group Army, which has made counter-drone training compulsory after an exercise exposed how troops relying on traditional camouflage were vulnerable to drone-directed artillery strikes.

According to a report published by the state-run PLA Daily on Monday, a drone equipped with thermal imaging sensors spotted infantrymen concealed beneath jungle vegetation and transmitted their positions to an opposing artillery unit, resulting in heavy simulated casualties and mission failure.

This result prompted the brigade to introduce new instructional manuals and tactical exercises, as well as develop dedicated counter-drone training facilities, including simulation rooms.

The report said that subsequent training focused on detecting and disrupting hostile drones, using specialised weapons and coordinating infantry responses, while requiring officers to show proficiency in counter-drone equipment and tactics.

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Based in southwestern China, the 75th Group Army belongs to the Southern Theatre Command, which according to the Pentagon’s 2025 report on China’s military, would support the Eastern Theatre Command in a Taiwan contingency. The PLA Daily report did not identify the specific brigade or link its training to Taiwan.

Yet official accounts describe counter-drone preparations across at least four of the PLA’s five theatre commands, including Eastern Theatre Command formations, with ground units working to defend against drones, improving concealment against aerial surveillance and integrating uncrewed systems and counter-drone equipment.

In August, the PLA Daily reported that a 71st Group Army brigade had ordered compulsory training on how to conceal heat sources and lights at night, including covering the hot parts of rocket launchers. In October, state news agency Xinhua reported that a 72nd Group Army amphibious armoured company under the same command had worked with multiple manufacturers to improve its use of uncrewed systems and counter-drone equipment.

Elsewhere, reports by state broadcaster CCTV and the defence ministry described 78th Group Army troops training to evade reconnaissance drones, while 81st Group Army reconnaissance troops used insulating blankets, damp soil and turf to reduce the heat signatures that could reveal their positions to drones.

Dennis Blasko, a former US Army attache in Beijing, said the PLA was developing counter-drone weapons, doctrine and training “throughout the entire force”, rather than just in selected brigades.

Chinese manufacturers had produced handheld and vehicle-mounted counter-drone systems and detection equipment, while individual formations were experimenting with their own solutions, including protective cages fitted to armoured vehicles, he said.

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Lessons from these experiments could eventually be passed to higher headquarters, but Blasko warned that so many units conducting their own testing could result in “a lack of standardised procedures and time lost [through duplicated efforts]”.

Colin Karotam, a senior resident fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said counter-drone training was probably spreading beyond the units identified, although he lacked “clear evidence of this”.

The risk from drones could be particularly high in a Taiwan conflict, with PLA forces exposed to threats while assembling on the mainland, crossing the strait and establishing positions ashore.

Taipei has proposed acquiring up to 208,200 coastal-attack drones, including more than 40,000 targeted for 2027. The purchases remain subject to funding decisions, with lawmakers proposing cuts and freezes to supplementary defence spending, including drone procurement, ahead of a final vote expected later this month.

Washington is also expanding its investment in uncrewed warfare. Its “Hellscape” concept envisages using large numbers of uncrewed systems to disrupt a Chinese military operation against Taiwan, while the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative was launched to accelerate the deployment of thousands of autonomous systems. A separate US$1 billion Drone Dominance programme aims to acquire more than 200,000 small attack drones by 2027.

Japan plans to deploy relatively inexpensive attack drones and other uncrewed systems under its Shield coastal defence initiative, with further drone purchases expected as Tokyo considers a five-year defence budget of up to 80 trillion yen (US$508 billion) from April 2027.

Timothy Heath, founder of defence consultancy Perceptum, said drones would be “absolutely essential” in a Taiwan conflict, with both sides using them in multiple roles.

“The danger is perhaps greater for China because troops crossing an open body of water are highly vulnerable,” he said.

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Taiwanese drone swarms – potentially reinforced by uncrewed systems operated by foreign militaries intervening in the conflict – could “overwhelm defences on board ships”, Heath warned, while PLA troops reaching shore could remain exposed to further strikes. By contrast, he added, Taiwanese and other troops could conceal their positions before hostilities, potentially making them harder for mainland Chinese drones to detect and target.

Beijing could also deploy drone swarms against Taipei’s radars, sensors, vehicles and exposed personnel, alongside its ballistic and cruise missiles, he said.

For PLA forces crossing the Taiwan Strait, protecting amphibious vehicles against drone attacks would pose another challenge. In an analysis for the Modern War Institute in June, Joshua Arostegui, research director of the US Army War College’s China Landpower Studies Centre, argued that adding heavy armour to the PLA’s high-speed Type 05 amphibious vehicles could undermine the buoyancy and speed needed to cross contested waters.

He described a broader approach involving uncrewed aircraft and vessels operating ahead of amphibious forces, electronic warfare, decoys and networked operations rather than relying on vehicle armour alone. His analysis included proposed concepts and emerging systems, not evidence that the entire protective architecture had been fielded.

Beyond developing new technologies and tactics, the PLA faces the challenge of applying lessons from individual units consistently across its forces – a process Blasko warned could take time as drone threats continued to evolve.

“It may take a few years to standardise doctrine and allow it to be flexible enough to adapt to new technologies,” he said.