The Insider, together with Der Spiegel and Le Monde, reported on 9 July 2026 that, according to a cache of secret documents, Russia and China had been conducting a structured military-technological cooperation program spanning space weapons and the destruction of satellites, integrated air and missile defense, autonomous “swarm” loitering munitions, next-generation armored vehicles, and military aviation.
The documents had originated from a series of clandestine annual Russian-Chinese military-technical forums, held since 2020, whose existence had not been publicized.
A presentation delivered at the November 2023 forum in Guangzhou by researchers from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation had proposed a three-level joint plan against the Starlink satellite network, escalating from legal and regulatory pressure through coordinated electromagnetic jamming to the physical destruction of the satellites via cyber attacks and “low-cost” one-to-many countermeasures.
A working protocol signed in Moscow on 5 June 2023 by Chinese military officials and Russian representatives of Rosoboronexport and Almaz-Antey had launched the joint development of an integrated air- and missile-defense system designed to intercept American hypersonic missiles.
The documents had also laid out the partnership’s central bargain: Russian battlefield experience from the war against Ukraine in exchange for Chinese technology, including AI and mass-production capacity for the joint development of next-generation autonomous “swarm” munitions.
Chinese experts had additionally advised Russia on building a factory for the mass production of kamikaze drones and had helped construct a network allowing Russian troops at the front to access the internet after Starlink had cut off service to unregistered users on Ukrainian territory in early 2026.
Efforts Category: China-Russia Military Cooperation
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