Serious stuff! Can the West keep up with China?
"A critical gap is emerging. China is publishing aggressively on satellite-independent navigation—bee-style path integration, salmon-like magnetic sensing and bio-hybrid drones. Yet the United States and its allies remain focused on satellite resilience rather than replacement.
This silent edge matters. Swarms of Chinese aircraft, missiles and autonomous vessels guided without satellite signals would erode allied electromagnetic-warfare dominance and weaken deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. If left unaddressed, it risks becoming the decisive asymmetry of the next decade.
Chinese research institutes and military universities are producing a steady stream of papers on bio-inspired navigation. Tests with drone aircraft and uncrewed submarines are verifying:
—Path integration (tracking distance and direction), as used by ants;
—Geomagnetic sensing (detecting variations in the earth’s magnetic field); and
—Optic flow (observing visible objects’ movement relative to a camera) and motion sensing, by which insects work out their position.
Quantum compass prototypes, exploiting atomic spin properties, are also under development.
Laboratories linked to the Chinese armed forces have demonstrated autonomous drones navigating without satellite signals, and Chinese patents describe bio-hybrid systems that fuse magnetic and visual cues. The sheer volume of publications signals that China is preparing to fight in environments in which satellite navigation signals are jammed. Western forces would struggle in those circumstances. ..."
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