Can U.S. Intel Keep Up With China’s Tsunami Of Weapons Developments?
Experts provide us with insights about the impact of Beijing's snowballing military technology advances on U.S. intelligence.
Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway
Published Nov 7, 2025 1:11 PM EST
China has ramped up its weapons development programs to a breathtaking degree, introducing waves of new missiles, ground combat systems, and vessels, as well as vastly expanding its nuclear triad. In just the past few months alone, China showed off gobs of new hardware, especially during its Victory Day parade in September. But above all else, Beijing’s developments in the air combat arena have been most stunning to observe. Autonomous combat drones, from relatively small to extremely large, and everything in between, to the emergence of tailless J-XDS and J-36 tactical jets, and ever sub-variations of them, as well as flying a stealth fighter from its new carrier, are among the revelations piling up at an increasing pace.
The status of these weapons programs and how many are real or merely meant to confuse and overwhelm foreign intelligence isn’t clear, but based on historic precedent, the notion that many are decoys isn’t supported. With so much development emerging publicly, and so much more going on clandestinely, along with other developments around an increasingly troubled globe, including from an active war in Ukraine, a critical question must be raised: Is the American intelligence apparatus able to deal with so much foreign technological change at one time?
Not since the height of the Cold War have so many military advancements and individual adversary weapons programs flooded the space. Does the U.S. intelligence community have the raw capacity to adequately deal with this now and sustain it for the foreseeable future?
https://www.twz.com/news-features/can-u-s-intel-keep-up-with-chinas-tsunami-of-weapons-developments
