Drone swarm from China: Atlas launches a drone every 3 seconds

China Electronics Technology Corporation had already presented the Swarm II launch system at the Changchun air show in November 2024. Further information has since emerged on the system, which brings an entire drone swarm into combat.

The carrier vehicle is an armoured 6×6 truck fitted with a launcher for 48 attack drones. Because one operator can control up to 96 AI-controlled drones, a unit consists of two launchers and a command vehicle. The launch interval per drone and launcher is now just three seconds. This puts the “steel swarm”, as the Chinese designation goes, in the air in just under two and a half minutes.

Atluss-A140 at the core of the drone swarm

The drone itself is called the Atluss-A140. It closely resembles the US Switchblade loitering munition and can be used for reconnaissance, electronic jamming or as a loitering munition.

The drone swarm conducts its reconnaissance independently and also coordinates the attack itself so that the drones do not get in each other's way. The Atluss-A140 is said to reach up to 100 km/h, and its endurance is given as around 60 minutes.

The explicit aim is to overwhelm air defence systems with mass and attack waves.