Swarm Intelligence Key to Future Development

China’s Xinhua News Agency reported on 12 June that China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) has successfully tested a ‘swarm’ of 119 fixed-wing UAVs acting as a combined entity, surpassing the previous record of 67 individual aircraft.

The 67 aircraft record was set in November last year by CETC at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, breaking the previous record, set by the US Navy, of 50 drones.

Launched by catapult then assembled in several aerial formations, the so-called ‘swarm intelligence’ demonstrated is a core component of the artificial intelligence required for the further evolution of intelligent unmanned systems, according to CETC.

By the end of 2015 there were over 100,000 drones operating in China, with the national market expected to reach the equivalent of US$11 billion by 2025, according to press reports.

Tim Mahon