China and Russia are working together on advanced weapons under their 2022 “no limits” partnership announced shortly before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, according to a think tank report.
The two major U.S. adversaries have limited conventional arms transfers but are building deeper exchanges for defense industrial production and supply chains, according to the report by the group C4ADS.
“The worst-case scenario is the emergence of a resilient defense industrial and technological axis capable of eroding the long-standing U.S. monopoly on precision warfare,” the report said.
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Chinese-Russian cooperation involves joint work on advanced conventional weapons using China’s technology and industry that supports Moscow’s wartime need for military dual-use goods, manufacturing and intellectual property, the report said.
Joint research and development is also assisting Chinese and Russian state-owned defense industries to validate advanced weapons designs and bridge gaps between design and production, the report said.
A third area of weapons collaboration is through academic contacts between China and Russia on defense and military areas. The networking and cross-seeding of experts will eventually institutionalize long-term advanced weapons partnerships, the report said.
“Chinese-Russian [advanced conventional weapons] cooperation rests on mutually beneficial asymmetries,” the report said.
“Russia brings Soviet-legacy engineering and scientific capabilities while China offers vast industrial scale, advanced manufacturing, and a highly coordinated, well-funded system for channeling technological innovation into defense applications.”
The report urges American policymakers to join with allies and accelerate science and technology innovation.
The study also calls for engaging Beijing and Moscow separately in a bid to “introduce friction” and try to disrupt the exchanges on advanced weapons technologies and expertise.
The 68-page report, “A Marriage of Convenience? The Promise and Pitfalls of Chinese-Russian Advanced Conventional Weapons Cooperation,” was made public Oct. 22.
The group C4ADS describes itself as “data-loving global security trailblazers all united under one goal: dismantle the forces that threaten global peace and security.”
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