You want to experience Chinese Army technology? Take a Chinese car

The Chinese Army regularly presents its latest futuristic weapons to the world: laser weapons, stealth fighters launched from electromagnetic catapults, silent electrical tanks, and intelligent atomic warheads. For many outside observers, this looks like a show of force and even disinformation, akin to the American “Star Wars” program of the Cold War.

However, in China alone, the authenticity of these technologies is beyond doubt. The reason is simple: many of these groundbreaking solutions that seem to come from discipline fiction films can already be found in cars driving on Chinese streets. It was the civilian automotive marketplace that became a test ground and evidence of Chinese technological progress.

How do military technologies get into Chinese cars?

The transfer of advanced technology from the military sector to civilian is highly visible in China. Here are any examples of how solutions known from the army revolutionize motorization:

1. Electric drive of tanks: Modern Chinese tanks usage advanced electrical drive systems that let precise and independent control of each wheel or caterpillar. The same technology goes to the luxury SUVs. Thanks to it, powerful three-ton vehicles with power of over 1000 hp hold extraordinary stableness even during fast manoeuvres at speeds exceeding 200 km/h.
2. Suspension from carriers: Chinese aircraft carriers, like “Fujian”, usage electromagnetic catapults to launch fighters. The miniature version of this technology – electromagnetic suspension – is already utilized in mass-produced cars. Powerful linear motors control the movement of each wheel, providing unparalleled stableness at advanced speeds and turning energy from uneven road to current.
3. Aircraft and submarine materials: Ultralight and at the same time highly durable steel and aluminum alloys, designed for stealth and submarine fighters, are present utilized extensively in the construction of Chinese car bodywork. This increases safety to specified an degree that there are known cases erstwhile passengers were leaving unharmed from accidents in which their car fell off a advanced bridge.
4. LiDAR and autonomous ride for everyone: LiDAR technology, erstwhile highly costly and reserved for the military, became standard equipment even in middle-class cars. Furthermore, full autonomous driving, supported by advanced artificial intelligence, is now available straight from the mill even in inexpensive, compact models.

A marketplace more violent than a battlefield

Critics rightly note that the Chinese army has no experience in modern armed conflict. However, experts note that a marketplace test for fresh technology can frequently be much more brutal and demanding than a test on the battlefield. Millions of cars on the roads, all day crossing billions of kilometres under different conditions, are the eventual proof of the reliability and maturity of these solutions.

Therefore, if individual wants to realize and feel the reality of the Chinese technological leap, he does not request to analyse military parades. Just sit behind the wheel of a modern Chinese car. The future is already on the roads.

Source:

1. South China Morning Post: “Want to get a hands-on feel of China’s futuristic waapons? Get in a Chinese car” ;
2. CarNewsChina.com;
3. CCTV / Xinhua: authoritative Chinese media that regularly print material on technology transfer between the military and civilian sector as part of the “civil-military fusion” strategy (军民融合).
4. Nikkei Asia: Analytical articles on the Chinese marketplace for electrical vehicles (NEV) and its global expansion that confirm the fast pace of innovation by Chinese producers.

Leszek B. Glass

Email: [email protected]

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