Uncrewed systems were a highlight of the parade, in an indication of the increasingly fierce race between China and the US for technological supremacy in autonomous weapons, which military leaders on both sides believe would be decisive if their forces were ever to fight one another.
Aside from equipment shown as part of the naval troops, three formations presented autonomous systems including robodogs and new large air drones.
In another first, the People’s Liberation Army paraded the three newly established forces in charge of aerospace, information warfare and cyber warfare across Tiananmen Square. The three units were created last year in the latest round of Xi’s decade-long effort at restructuring the military.
The naval formation also included huge shipborne laser weapons, which state television extolled as a key part of air defences for the navy’s surface fleet.
Incidents with Chinese ships using lasers to blind the pilots on other countries’ surveillance aircraft have repeatedly triggered tension with neighbours as well as the US, Australia and Canada.
