From dance floor to war: China readies humanoid robots for combat
In May 2025, the PLA issued a tender to purchase a humanoid robot, including installation and technical training. Four months later, a procurement notice that listed an NUDT email as its contact address sought an “embodied humanoid robot intelligent perc...
Key takeaways
- The most recent reports show that China is rapidly moving humanoid robots from the show floor into military planning.
- 7 2026, Reuters detailed a tender issued by the People’s Liberation Army in May 2025 for an “embodied humanoid robot intelligent perception and dexterous operation system,” followed by a $300,000 budget allocation in June for data‑collection tools to map terrain and motion for such robots.
- Two days after the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, the PLA Daily urged researchers to accelerate the transfer of laboratory breakthroughs to combat‑ready “robotic combatants.” The Games themselves produced headline‑grabbing performances, including a robot sprinting 100 metres in 8.64 seconds—faster than the human world record—and a standing high‑jump of 9.45 feet, while also generating viral footage of malfunctions.
- Industry data from the first half of 2026 indicate that global shipments of humanoid robots have surged to over 22,000 units, a near‑300 % year‑on‑year increase, with Agibot leading the market (9,700 units, 43 % share) followed by Unitree (7,000 units, 31 %).
- Analysts forecast that annual shipments could climb to 26 million by 2040, driven by scaling production and the need for IoT‑style fleet management.
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In May 2025, the PLA issued a tender to purchase a humanoid robot, including installation and technical training. Four months later, a procurement notice that listed an NUDT email as its contact address sought an “embodied humanoid robot intelligent perception and dexterous operation system.”
The records contained few specifics. Reuters couldn’t determine whether the tenders were filled, and if so, which companies won or which robot models were supplied.
In June this year, the PLA budgeted about $300,000 for a system to collect and label camera, radar and motion data for humanoids, including information about terrain they could traverse, according to another military procurement document. A year later, NUDT explicitly framed humanoid robots as battlefield tools. A university competition in June 2025 featured an event that simulated “infiltration behind enemy lines,” requiring robots to enter an area, map it and locate targets, according to its website. Another envisioned robots conducting identity checks, discipline inspections and security patrols at military bases.
The military-research university described the competition in part as a proving ground for humanoids to eventually "move toward the battlefield."
Procurement records around that time reflected that ultimate goal. BEIJING, Sept 7 (Reuters) - At the World Humanoid Robot Games in China last month, robots jumped, boxed and danced. Some fleet-footed bots ran faster than Usain Bolt over 100 meters. Spectators cheered the machines’ improving capabilities and their meme-worthy stumbles.
Two days after the Games ended, the People's Liberation Army's official newspaper drew its own conclusions from the show. The PLA Daily called for researchers to accelerate the transfer of cutting-edge technologies from laboratories to military training grounds for robotic “combatants.”
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