The PLA's Robotic Revolution: Humanoids on Tomorrow's Battlefield

Abstract

This article explores the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) strategic vision for integrating humanoid robots into future battlefield operations. Recognizing these advanced machines as the pinnacle of AI development, the PLA sees them as crucial for achieving "robot replacement" and "zero casualties" in intelligent warfare. The article details the rapid technological advancements in humanoid robotics, including breakthroughs in bionic motion, intelligent interaction, and swarm intelligence, which are poised to enable mass production and widespread military application. It offers a dialectical analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of military humanoid robots compared to other unmanned systems, highlighting their unique capabilities in complex, unstructured environments while acknowledging current limitations in cost, technical complexity, and environmental adaptability.

Furthermore, the article outlines the PLA's specific application scenarios for humanoid robots, ranging from direct combat and equipment control to comprehensive support tasks and high-risk operations. It details a scientific development roadmap spanning short, medium, and long terms, emphasizing the evolution of tasks, command and control modes, force formation, and capability generation. Crucially, the abstract also touches upon the PLA's proactive stance on innovating development theories and addressing critical ethical and legal considerations, such as rules of engagement and the adherence to principles of the law of war, to avoid moral pitfalls. Finally, it examines how humanoid robots are set to reconstruct the logistics support model on future battlefields, transforming material delivery, wounded rescue, and equipment maintenance through predictive support and intelligent swarm penetration, ultimately redefining the nature of modern warfare by "controlling energy with intelligence and replacing people with machines."

by Gabriele and Nicola Iuvinale

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) recognizes humanoid robots as the pinnacle of achievements in Artificial Intelligence, a product of the integration of mechanization, informatization, and intelligence. Seen as the ultimate form of intelligent machines capable of imitating and replacing humans, military humanoid robots are considered a key link in intelligent warfare, aiming for "robot replacement" and achieving "zero casualties." It's anticipated that, with the progressive development of their technology and their increasing application in the military field, they will become a new growth pole for military intelligence, alongside already established unmanned intelligent devices like drones, unmanned boats, unmanned submarines, and unmanned vehicles.

Development Opportunities and Technological Advancements

In recent years, driven by the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence and large models, the PLA has observed revolutionary progress in the key components of humanoid robots: their "brain," "cerebellum," and "body." Prototypes are flourishing, application scenarios are expanding, and some have already been implemented, foreshadowing large-scale mass production. The integration of humanoid robots into human production and life is no longer a dream, as evidenced by Gartner, a leading international research and consulting firm, including general-purpose humanoid robots among its top ten strategic technology trends for 2025 in October 2024. Global market forecasts, which predict exceeding $100 billion by 2028 and reaching $1 trillion by 2035, with over 3 million humanoid robots in service, reinforce the PLA's view of this technology's strategic importance.

The PLA is aware that major countries worldwide attach great importance to the development of humanoid robots and their military applications. Strategic documents such as the "US Robotics Technology Roadmap" and the "US National Robotics Program," Russia's "Future Russian Military Robot Application Concept," and Japan's "Robot White Paper" and "Robot New Strategy" are examples of how other powers are investing in this sector. The PLA observes the implementation of projects like DARPA's (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) "Joint Robot Program" and "Standardized Robot System," and the numerous humanoid robot challenges organized by the United States, Russia, and South Korea. The exploration and development of military humanoid robot prototypes for various scenarios, including ground combat, fighter jet piloting, naval damage control, and battlefield rescue in these countries, offer insights for the PLA's own strategy.

Technological Breakthroughs in Humanoid Robots

The development of humanoid robots began with the mechanical bionics of humans. The evolution of bionic motion architecture reflects a development process from mechanical replication to biological inspiration. While early robot designs primarily focused on imitating human limb structures and movement methods through mechanical devices, rigid structures presented limitations in terms of adaptability, efficiency, energy consumption, and flexibility. In recent years, bionic motion architecture has led to new breakthroughs. Researchers have begun to re-examine robot design from a biological perspective. They have borrowed from human muscles, bones, and nervous systems, and utilized liquid metal artificial tendons to develop more advanced flexible actuators and bionic joints. These allow robots to simulate human muscle contraction and relaxation, achieving more natural movement patterns that can flexibly adapt their movement postures to different terrains and load conditions. The real-time gait generation system based on reinforcement learning enables humanoid robots to achieve smooth gait changes, avoiding the drawbacks of traditional wheeled or tracked robots on uneven terrain. Multimodal motion fusion technology organically integrates information from multiple sensors to achieve intelligent switching between walking, climbing, and sliding modes. This bionic architecture also provides robots with greater energy efficiency and extends their continuous operation time in battlefield environments. The PLA notes Boston Dynamics' "Atlas" robot as an example, capable of walking on a 45-degree slope, jumping 1.2 meters, and autonomously overcoming complex obstacles, with movement performance superior to that of an average human.

The intelligent interaction capability of humanoid robots is another important feature distinguishing them from traditional robots. With the advancement of artificial intelligence technology, particularly with the development of deep learning and natural language processing technologies, the intelligent interaction capability of humanoid robots has made a leap forward. Innovations in computer vision technology have enabled robots to perceive their surroundings in real time. Equipped with high-resolution cameras and depth sensors, humanoid robots can recognize objects, faces, and gestures, and even understand dynamic changes in complex scenes. For example, in logistics support tasks, robots can use visual recognition technology to autonomously locate material storage points and plan the optimal transportation route. Advances in natural language processing technology have enabled robots to engage in fluent conversations with humans. Through deep learning models, robots can understand context, identify emotional trends, and generate natural language responses. This capability is particularly important in military logistics, for example, in battlefield first aid scenarios, humanoid robots can understand the injuries of wounded soldiers through conversations with them and provide preliminary medical guidance. Improved situational awareness, through multimodal sensor fusion, integrates visual, auditory, and tactile information to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the surrounding environment, allowing robots to adapt strategies based on environmental changes, such as dynamic material distribution on the battlefield.

The emergent effect of swarm intelligence gives humanoid robots powerful collaborative combat capabilities. The deep integration between distributed decision-making architecture and digital twin technology allows robot clusters to possess the characteristics of "adaptation, self-organization, and self-evolution." With the support of distributed artificial intelligence and communication technologies, each robot can act as an intelligent node, communicating with other nodes in real time through wireless networks and sharing environmental information and activity status. Based on reinforcement learning algorithms and game theory, robot swarms can autonomously assign tasks, optimize resource utilization, and achieve adaptations in dynamic environments. In battlefield material resupply activities, for example, multiple robots can form an intelligent resupply network to dynamically adjust material transportation routes and priorities. In disaster relief scenarios, robot swarms can improve mission efficiency and success rates through collaborative search and rescue. The PLA observes that, in 2023, Tesla's "Optimus Prime" humanoid robot completed a full cycle of field tool usage—identifying damaged equipment, autonomously selecting a toolbox, and using a standard wrench for bolt replacement—indicating a shift from "tool users" to "problem solvers."

Advantages and Disadvantages of Military Humanoid Robots: A Dialectical Assessment by the PLA

A humanoid robot is carrying supplies

Within the unmanned equipment system, the PLA recognizes that humanoid robots are in direct competition with robot dogs, unmanned vehicles, drones, unmanned boats, unmanned submarines, and bionic unmanned systems. However, humanoid robots, through the integration of perceptual intelligence, decision-making intelligence, and motion intelligence via close coordination of "eyes, brain, hands, and legs," offer unique potential. Their ability to replace human personnel in unstructured scenarios for complex, delicate, and discreet tasks is considered of great value. The PLA emphasizes that the capability to use mechanical hands and flexible tools represents a significant advantage over other systems like robot dogs, allowing them to perform more precise work. Their mobility, enabling them to move freely and change position, makes them more versatile than fixed mechanical arms. Theoretically, the PLA believes that numerous military tasks not currently performed by active unmanned systems could be assigned to humanoid robots.

Naturally, the PLA is also aware of the shortcomings of humanoid robots in terms of environmental adaptability and task adaptability compared to other unmanned systems. For example, humanoid robots are not as fast as unmanned vehicles, and their ability to traverse complex terrain in nature is not as good as that of robot dogs. Nor can they ascend into the sky or descend into the deep sea like drones, unmanned boats, or unmanned submarines. Currently, compared to existing unmanned systems, humanoid robots are more expensive and technically more complex to implement. Therefore, the PLA concludes that even if humanoid robots achieve maturity and are widely used in the future, they will not completely replace other unmanned systems. Instead, they will have a distinct functional positioning and specific application scenarios, forming a system of unmanned systems with a clear division of labor and coordinated operations, leveraging their unique military value.

In-Depth Military Application Scenarios According to the PLA

Considering future military mission tasks and the combat environment, and fully taking into account the development prospects and possible innovations of humanoid robot technology, the PLA identifies the following five main military application scenarios:

• Replacing or cooperating with humans in ground combat: Ground combat is the most brutal and causes the highest number of casualties. The use of combat humanoid robots with comprehensive, human-like combat capabilities to replace infantry and engage the enemy in urban and field environments can significantly reduce losses.

• Replacing human control of small and medium-sized equipment for direct combat: Small and medium-sized combat platforms like tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and fighter jets that directly face the enemy usually require human control, which demands significant human resources. Using humanoid robots as "equipment to operate equipment" to intelligently empower and manage these small and medium-sized manned equipment can revitalize existing military assets and reduce casualties.

• Assisting operators in controlling large and medium-sized equipment for indirect combat: Large-caliber artillery, bombers, strategic and tactical missiles, ships, and other large and medium-sized equipment require multiple personnel. Humanoid robots, capable of switching between tasks at any time, will be integrated with operators to reduce personnel and increase efficiency, while also reducing reliance on a large number of operators.

• Replacing humans to perform comprehensive support tasks: In equipment support and logistics support areas, humanoid robots can replace humans in various roles such as engineers, military medics, equipment maintainers, and psychological counselors, gradually reducing labor-intensive positions within the military.

• Replacing or transporting people in high-risk environments: Humanoid robots can operate in areas contaminated by nuclear, biological, and chemical radiation, plateaus, extremely hot and cold environments, as well as deep waters, space, deep underground, and other high-risk environments unsuitable for human activity. They can also operate various tools, devices, and equipment that could previously only be used by humans.

Scientifically Designing the Development Path of Military Humanoid Robots for the PLA

The PLA outlines a scientific development path for military humanoid robots, distinguishing three periods (short, medium, and long term) and three phases (primary, intermediate, and advanced), with coordinated planning that progresses from easy to difficult and phased implementation:

• Evolution of Task Types: Initially, humanoid robots will mainly be used to perform non-conflict support tasks in low-threat environments (primary phase). After entering the advanced phase, they will gradually be empowered to replace soldiers in performing direct combat tasks with the enemy in high-risk environments, ultimately transforming into main combat equipment.

• Command and Control Mode: In the non-autonomous and semi-autonomous phases, the remote control mode for humanoid robots can evolve from button and joystick remote control to motion capture-based remote control and brain-based remote control. As the level of autonomy increases, the command and control mode evolves from "human in the loop" to "human on the loop" and finally to "human out of the loop."

• Force Formation Mode: The ratio of operators to humanoid robots will evolve from "many controlling one" to "one controlling one" and finally to "one controlling many." In the primary phase, humanoid robots will be incorporated into live force formations to implement human-machine collaborative operations. In the advanced phase, a small number of personnel will command and control multiple humanoid robots, which will then serve as central nodes for commanding and controlling unmanned clustering operations.

• Capability Generation Path: In the primary phase, once the humanoid robot is produced, its technical and tactical indicators will be fixed. In the advanced phase, after the humanoid robot is produced, it will need to undergo systematic "eye-brain-hand" coordination training for various military tasks, and achieve rapid self-evolution and continuous improvement of combat capabilities through individual learning and group collaborative learning.

Prospective Innovation of Humanoid Robot Development and Application Theory for the PLA

Although military humanoid robots have the potential to transform into a new type of equipment, the PLA acknowledges that the current understanding of them is still in an embryonic stage, with insufficient exploration and unclear positioning. It is essential to vigorously innovate their development and application theories to promote rapid and sound development.

• Research and Refinement of Military Requirements and Capability Planning: The PLA aims to systematically classify different possible application scenarios and corresponding military needs, categorize and combine similar and related combat tasks, form a set of high-frequency general tasks, and optimize the design of military humanoid robots accordingly. They will distinguish between relevant capability indicators such as strength, intensity, and endurance, which can only be achieved by hardware, and relevant capability indicators such as flexibility and robustness, which can be achieved by software, and determine the minimum capability requirements for military humanoid robot hardware and software.

• Clarifying Key Combat Issues and Formulating Combat Rules: For combat humanoid robots, combat rules are key to regulating and limiting their use in combat, avoiding errors and loss of control, and maximizing their effectiveness. The PLA emphasizes the need to clarify different application scenarios in combat and identify key combat issues, especially regarding granting robots the right to fire, target distinction, space, time, degree of lethality, etc., formulating detailed combat rules and flexibly granting rights as needed. For example: requiring humanoid robots to open fire only after identifying living enemy targets, or to issue a warning first and then fire after the warning is invalid; or requiring humanoid robots to distinguish between living targets and non-living targets and choose appropriate killing methods and degrees of lethality, etc.

• Conducting Ethical and Legal Research to Avoid Moral Traps: The PLA is aware that military humanoid robots are the most human-like weapons to date. If widely used and normalized, potential indiscriminate killings and accidental injuries will inevitably be subject to legal accusations and moral condemnation. In terms of ethics, military humanoid robots clearly violate the first law of Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics," "Do not harm humans," and must be adaptively adjusted and revised. In terms of legal theory, combat humanoid robots should adhere to the fundamental principles of the law of war, such as the principle of necessity, the principle of humanity, the principle of distinction, the principle of restriction, the principle of proportionality, and the principle of good faith. In this regard, the PLA believes that military humanoid robots should ensure at least three points: obey humans, not being able to modify programs that depend on humans or abuse violence; respect humans, strictly distinguishing humans from other objects and not being able to indiscriminately destroy them; protect humans, being able to timely stop and limit the excessive use of violence and not being able to indiscriminately kill humans.

Reconstructing the Logistics Support Model in the Future Battlefield

The PLA recognizes that the form of modern warfare is undergoing a profound change, from the steel torrent of the mechanized era to the network-centric warfare of the information age, and now to the algorithmic confrontation of the intelligence era. Some experts have pointed out that the outcome of future wars may no longer depend on the density of firepower on the front line, but on the "speed of logistics response." In this context, traditional logistics support faces challenging issues: low efficiency in material delivery in complex terrains, significantly increased risk of casualties in high-risk areas, and the growing contradiction between equipment maintenance timeliness requirements and human resource shortages. Innovations in humanoid robot technology could provide a revolutionary solution to this dilemma.

Material Delivery: From Linear Support to Three-Dimensional Penetration

The PLA assesses how the traditional "base-outpost-position" chain supply mode is extremely vulnerable under the threat of drone attacks. The application of humanoid robots will give rise to a new paradigm of "swarm penetration support." Thanks to their anthropomorphic movement capabilities, humanoid robots can adapt to a variety of complex terrains—climbing stairs, traversing ruins, or performing tasks in confined spaces—greatly expanding the coverage of logistics support. Their modular design allows for rapid replacement of functional modules according to mission requirements, further enhancing mission adaptability. Equipped with advanced sensors and artificial intelligence algorithms, they can perceive the surrounding environment in real-time and plan the optimal path, avoiding enemy firepower and accurately delivering materials to designated points. Intelligent material management not only reduces labor costs but also significantly decreases delivery error rates, ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of material supply. When multiple robots cooperate, if some robots are damaged, others can flexibly reassign tasks through the information system and autonomously reconstruct the support network to maintain the basic functions and operational efficiency of the entire logistics support system, ensuring continuous material supply.

Wounded Rescue: From the "Golden Hour" to "Platinum 10 Minutes"

The introduction of humanoid robots rewrites the "golden hour" rule for modern combat casualty care. Humanoid robots can serve as auxiliary medical equipment, transporting medicines and first aid equipment to provide emergency treatment to the wounded. They can also undertake the task of transporting the wounded, smoothly moving them to support medical facilities across complex terrains, reducing pain and secondary injuries during transport. In extreme environments, humanoid robots can even assist military doctors in performing remote surgeries, gaining precious time for the wounded's treatment.

Equipment Maintenance: From Passive Response to Predictive Support

Traditional equipment maintenance faces challenges such as "delayed fault detection, inefficient spare parts scheduling, and insufficient maintenance skills." The PLA predicts that humanoid robots will bring three major changes to equipment maintenance:

• Fault Prediction: Using the simulation and prediction capabilities of digital twin models, humanoid robots can predict the possible fault mode, fault time, and fault location of equipment. When the digital twin model predicts a fault, the humanoid robot will issue an alarm signal in the form of a display interface, acoustic messages, etc., and provide maintenance personnel with detailed fault information and maintenance strategies.

• Field 3D Printing: Equipped with 3D printing capabilities, humanoid robots will be able to directly produce necessary components on the battlefield. By scanning damaged components and generating 3D models, robots can complete component printing and replacement in a short time, reducing reliance on the rear supply chain while enhancing the autonomy and flexibility of maintenance support.

• Continuous Learning: Through deep learning and reinforcement learning algorithms, humanoid robots can rapidly acquire new skills and adapt to the ever-changing needs of the battlefield. Whether repairing new equipment or handling emergency tasks, they are able to respond quickly, diagnose faults promptly, and perform repairs, significantly improving the efficiency and reliability of maintenance support.

"Digital Servants" and the Transformation of Warfare for the PLA

Humanoid robots bring not only a quantitative change in security efficiency but also a qualitative change in the logic of warfare, representing an innovation in combat power at two levels: military technology and organizational form. This is viewed by the PLA as an intelligent expansion of combat effectiveness, different from the physical expansion of combat effectiveness seen in previous military reforms.

As artificial intelligence begins to grasp the essential meaning of "support" and inherit the military wisdom that "food and fodder must be sent before troops move," the PLA is witnessing the paradigm shift of logistics support, from a labor-intensive activity to intelligent emergency response. The core value of this revolution is to keep dangerous support tasks away from flesh and blood, allow complex decision-making processes to gather collective wisdom, and ultimately achieve the military transformation goal of "controlling energy with intelligence and replacing people with machines."

From "steel camel caravans" to "digital service soldiers," humanoid robots are redefining the boundaries of logistics on the battlefield. They not only address manpower shortages but also represent a key pivot for the intelligent transformation of combat systems. In this silent logistics transformation, the PLA believes that whoever can take the lead in building an intelligent logistics network will seize the initiative in future wars.

However, from the PLA's current perspective, the widespread application of humanoid robots still faces numerous challenges. Issues such as energy supply, motion control, and the reliability of artificial intelligence algorithms need to be resolved. Furthermore, the issue of high costs also represents a difficulty currently afflicting the development of humanoid robots. The production costs of humanoid robots are high, making it difficult to implement them on a large scale in the short term. At the same time, humanoid robots must face a series of ethical and legal challenges in performing tasks. With continuous technological progress, the PLA has reason to believe that these problems will be resolved, and humanoid robots, whose development is accelerating, could subvert the traditional logistics support model and have a profound impact on the future form of warfare.