PLA Insights from Ukraine’s Asymmetric USV Operations
This article was originally published in The Jamestown Foundation.
Sunny Cheung and Owen Au
31 October 2025
Executive Summary
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) closely studies the Russia–Ukraine conflict, viewing Ukraine’s innovative use of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) as a transformative model for future naval warfare and asymmetric operations.
Chinese analysts emphasize the cost-effectiveness, mass-producibility, modular flexibility, and stealth of USVs, framing them as key tools for achieving an asymmetric maritime advantage, which aligns with China’s focus on cost-efficient deterrence and military-civil fusion.
Experts advocate combining USVs with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), and manned fleets under unified command systems. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) envisions AI-driven “super-brain” decision-making to manage complex, multi-domain operations.
While recognizing USVs’ potential, PLA experts warn of vulnerabilities to similar swarm tactics targeting China’s coasts and islands. Proposed countermeasures include early warning, physical barriers, electronic and kinetic defenses, and future adoption of directed-energy weapons for anti-USV operations.
In September, Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence Technology (珠海云洲智能科技) launched a new type of dual-mode naval platform. “Blue Whale” (蓝鲸号), an unmanned surface vehicle (USV), is capable of operating both on the surface and underwater, where it can remain submerged for over a month. It represents an advance in the country’s innovation capabilities, as well as signalling a growing demand for unmanned systems (Zhuhai City Innovation Bureau, September 12). This demand is shaped by a focus within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on maritime warfare, especially in preparation for a Taiwan contingency, as evidenced by numerous naval trainings and drills in recent years. The influence of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is also a clear influence on decisions for PLA equipment procurement.
Since February 2022, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has closely followed developments both on and off the battlefield in Russia and Ukraine (China Brief, March 28, July 18). One area that has attracted attention from Chinese military analysts is Naval combat in the Black Sea. Academics have estimated that roughly half of Ukraine’s USV attacks by the end of 2024 achieved significant military results, sabotaging Russian warships and logistical infrastructure. Analysis by military experts, scholars, and practitioners from leading PRC defense institutes over the past three years shows that the PRC is moving decisively toward embracing USVs, but that technological hurdles remain and not all scenarios necessarily favor their deployment.