Lyle Goldstein, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University who specializes in China policy, said that in addition to developing a large fleet of various drones, China is working on laser weapons.
“China has been methodically studying laser applications for military use for over two decades,” Goldstein said. “It is not a crash program or simply an effort to mimic Western research.”
Goldstein said China revealed the LY-1 laser weapons system for its ground forces at an October 2025 military parade.
“Superpowers are highly motivated to accelerate this field of military development,” Goldstein said. While China does not have an “obvious lead” in laser weapons compared with the United States, Goldstein said American adversaries are likely working in tandem, as they have done on drone technology.
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