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China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
Ornithopters, UAVs that flap their wings like birds, have long been considered a desirable kind of drone, or UAV. Some are as small as 90 grams and can be launched by hand.
The ornithopters displayed by China spanned an impressive range of sizes and functionalities, underscoring their versatile application across reconnaissance, infiltration, and direct combat missions. What distinguishes these drones from conventional unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is their mechanical mimicry of real bird wing-flapping, enhancing their stealth and allowing them to blend into civilian airspace or natural environments undetected.
At the smallest end of the spectrum is the “Magpie Drone,” a featherweight UAV that weighs just 90 grams—light enough to be thrown by hand. Outfitted with a miniature high-resolution camera, it is optimized for real-time urban surveillance and forward-position reconnaissance. Chinese defense officials noted that these drones can be deployed in flocks, overwhelming enemy monitoring systems and maintaining a persistent aerial presence. Their collective flight patterns are not only harder to detect but also more difficult to interpret, which makes them ideal for disrupting enemy radar and ensuring continuous situational awareness.
In a bold demonstration of its rapidly advancing unmanned military technology, China unveiled a new generation of bird-mimicking stealth drones, known as ornithopters, at the 10th China Military Intelligent Technology Expo (CMITE 2025) in Beijing. Designed to look and behave like real birds, these drones are capable of bypassing radar detection systems and carrying out covert operations in both urban and battlefield environments.
( China’s Bird-Like ‘Little Falcon’ Drone )
In his 2007 novel Quantico, science fiction author Greg Bear describes a similar device and strategy:
"...Many of our UAVs are equipped with smaller aircraft that can be dispersed in quantity. We refer to them as "midges". Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows. They even fly like sparrows, for up to 20 hours before they self-destruct.
(Read more about midges)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/11/2026)
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