China Aids Russia in Enhancing Drone Mesh Network Capabilities, Increasing Threat to NATO

(Central News Agency correspondent Chen Yunyu, London, 5th, exclusive dispatch) According to an internal reference survey report shared with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, Russia has significantly increased the use of mesh networks in unmanned combat platforms since the beginning of this year. This helps Russia enhance its long-range and multi-point strike, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare capabilities, as well as improve the tactical flexibility and success rate of drone swarm operations.

The report identifies two Chinese companies playing key roles in the relevant supply chain: Xingkai Technology and Sinosun Technology, both based in Shenzhen.

Additionally, the relevant Russian and Chinese companies use a company registered in Hong Kong at the end of March last year, "Wanpower Global," as a payment transfer channel to obscure the connection between Chinese production suppliers and Russian end customers as much as possible.

The survey report was written by the Ukrainian think tank "Center for Defense Reforms" (CDR). Oleksandr V. Danylyuk, who leads the CDR and is involved in coordinating cooperation between NATO and Ukraine, told CNA that the war and its international effects, such as sanctions, have put immense pressure on Russia's finances. However, having paid a huge cost for a war that has lasted several years, Moscow is unlikely to choose a humiliating peace and may instead escalate the situation further within this year.

Danylyuk pointed out that through concrete actions, Russia will significantly escalate the security threat to NATO countries, and the scope of its actions may expand to more countries to exert "maximum pressure" as much as possible. Russia may deliberately keep its actions on the brink of "aggression" to increase the difficulty of a collective NATO response.

Moscow will inevitably seek to escalate threats before NATO countries can effectively reorganize and strengthen their military, political, and other defense capabilities, forcing countries to self-limit their actions against Russia to avoid direct conflict. However, constrained by its own conditions, Danylyuk stated that a direct military conflict with NATO countries in the short term would not be a welcome development for Moscow.

Nevertheless, how NATO being forced to deal with a more complex and unstable international situation will affect Beijing's actions in the Indo-Pacific region is worth watching. Danylyuk is also an Associate Fellow at the British think tank "Royal United Services Institute" (RUSI).

On the other hand, the Commander of the Latvian Armed Forces, Kaspars Pudāns, warned that Russia has already gained an advantage over NATO countries in drone warfare and may attempt to use an "opportunity window" until the end of 2028 to launch a conventional military attack on the Baltic states.

Pudāns said in an interview with British media that Russia's advantage lies not mainly in advanced technology, but in its ability to mass-produce and rapidly update drone performance, as well as its extensive combat experience. Considering that many European military construction plans are set for around 2029, Moscow may view the next few years as an opportunity not to be missed.

Furthermore, Pudāns pointed out that the next US president may not necessarily be more favorable to Moscow than the current one.

According to the CDR survey report obtained by CNA, mesh network modems in Russian military drones are mostly found in long-range strike drones, but since February this year, they have appeared more frequently in medium and short-range drones. The vast majority of these modems originate from China, although some are sold under so-called Russian proprietary brands.

The investigation shows that the modems used by the Russian military, regardless of whether the supplier is from China or Russia, or whether the specifications have been changed by Russia, utilize the same or highly similar software and hardware platforms and production facilities. This not only helps improve the efficiency and flexibility of component supply but also helps expand production and quickly integrate, upgrade, or modify related systems.

This also means that as the mesh network architecture continues to develop, the currently independently operating strike, reconnaissance, and other types of unmanned platforms are expected to be quickly integrated in the future, enabling large-scale autonomous collaboration under a single command center and significantly shortening the time from target detection to strike.

According to the report, the first discovery of a Russian drone using a mesh network modem on the Ukrainian battlefield was in November 2024, when the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) found a Chinese "Xingkai Technology" XK-F358 modem in a Russian military drone.

The report points out that with the expanded application of mesh networks in Russian unmanned systems, Russia will be able to perform drone reconnaissance, guidance, and strike missions from greater distances, ensuring "zero-lag" command and control.

Currently, not only in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, but also within Belarus, Russia has begun deploying mesh networks. Some technical solutions and technology verification can be implemented under Russia's "Digital Seamless Sky" (Tsifrovoye Nebo) strategic initiative, which is touted as "civilian."

On the other hand, at least since February this year, the Russian military has begun using mesh networks to introduce a "mothership" operational mode for drone swarms.

According to the report, on the Ukrainian battlefield, a drone equipped with a mesh network modem can act as a "mothership," deploying multiple first-person view (FPV) drones to a designated area, functioning as a relay and signal amplifier, ensuring stable data transmission, and extending the effective data transmission distance.

Research by the Washington-based think tank "Institute for the Study of War" (ISW) also indicates that the Russian military is increasingly adopting this type of drone operational mode for reconnaissance and strikes against Ukraine.

Another noteworthy phenomenon is the application of mesh networks in "drone swarm" combat modes. In the first quarter of this year, relevant research and development units funded by the Russian federal government released several verification plans for the application of mesh networks in drone swarms and autonomous drone operations.

CDR points out that once these concepts are realized, different types of drones will be able to interact autonomously, conduct data exchange, task assignment, and action coordination, achieving more efficient joint operations that pose a greater threat to NATO. (Editor: Chen Huiping) 1150605