China explores humanoid robots for potential combat use

China’s military is laying the groundwork to send humanoid robots into battle. A review of over 100 military procurement documents, academic papers, and related materials from 2025 and 2026 reveals that the People’s Liberation Army is not just thinking about robotic warfare in the abstract. It is actively commissioning training systems, modeling urban combat scenarios, and tapping into a domestic robotics industry that already dominates global production. From procurement docs to urban assault models The clearest signal came in May 2025, when the PLA issued a formal tender seeking humanoid robots specifically for training purposes. A few months later, in August 2025, researchers at the National University of Defense Technology published a paper that modeled how combat robots, including humanoid systems and unmanned ground vehicles, could be integrated into urban assault teams operating alongside human soldiers. The paper treated these machines not as logistical helpers carrying supplies behind the front line, but as primary participants in close-quarters combat operations. By June 2026, the military had allocated roughly $300,000 for developing data collection systems related to hu...