UFO the size of a stadium? No, they're Chinese drones: Beijing gets new military tech

With disinformation increasingly becoming a feature of modern warfare, Chinese scientists have come out with an innovation to confuse enemies in the event of an all-out war.

According to a report by Interesting Engineering, a team of Chinese scientists have developed a drone with a iPad-sized radar deflector that can show up on enemy radars as an unidentified flying object (UFO) as big as a sports stadium.

According to research published in Chinese journal Radar Science and Technology, these drones would appear on radar looking like giant flying saucers, a tactic that can startle the enemy and cause confusion.

Scientsts achieved this by creating a radar cross-section (RCS)—the echo produced by a target's power output—for the radar deflector measuring 56,400 sq ft. By powering up this iPad-sized deflector as it is carried by a drone, the scientists found that they could "significantly increase RCS to mask the characteristics of real targets, effectively achieving tactical goals such as anti-reconnaissance and anti-attack."

The lead researcher of the study, Chen Qiang, was also quoted as saying that this effect can now be achieved with "unprecedented efficiency".

If one drone can appear as a UFO the size of a stadium, what about a swarm? Well, that's where it gets interesting.

Chinese scientists believe that a swarm of these drones can easily overwhelm enemy radar screens, creating a shock and awe effect among enemy forces.

The IE report stated that the Chinese military has already carried out various tests of the prototype, thereby demonstrating its capabilities in real-world situations.

While earlier, military research was more focussed on developing technology to shield units from enemy radar, this development suggests that military research is now looking to deceive, rather than to conceal.