US and China must set rules before autonomous fighters cross paths
Por Mustafa Bilal — South China Morning Post – News feed
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Opinion Mustafa Bilal US and China must set rules before autonomous fighters cross paths
Rapid military AI development makes agreed limits on mission scopes, operational areas and target parameters an urgent priority
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Mustafa Bilal Mustafa Bilal is a researcher at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies, Islamabad. Published: 8:30pm, 7 Oct 2026 In December 2022, a Chinese J-11 fighter came within metres of a US RC-135 surveillance plane over the South China Sea, according to the US military, which criticised it as an unsafe manoeuvre. China, however, held the American crew responsible and claimed the RC-135 had suddenly veered towards the Chinese jet despite repeated warnings. Both sides released video footage, yet neither accepted the other’s account of the incident.
This and other such close encounters involved human pilots. The next one may involve aircraft with no one on board.
On September 30, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans for a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command to scale up autonomous and robotic capabilities across the US military. The Pentagon has requested US$54.6 billion for accelerating the development and adoption of autonomous and unmanned systems in the 2027 financial year, up from US$225.9 million the year before. Select Voice Select Speed 0.8x 0.9x 1.0x 1.1x 1.2x 1.5x 1.75x 00:00 00:00 1x AI-generated voice
