Footage showing skies in China lit up with 10,000 drones has sent social media into a frenzy, with Elon Musk labelling the video as ‘impressive’.
Posting to his official account on X, the platform he rebranded from Twitter after purchasing it in October 2022, Mr Musk, 53, was seemingly mesmerised by what he saw on the platform.
Footage posted online showed 10,197 drones lighting up the night sky in a blaze of colour that resembled a large firework display.
A post from investor and social media personality, Mario Nawfal, who has over 1.6million followers on the platform, read: ‘China outdoes itself again.
After setting a world record with over 8,000 drones in a light show. Now they have a 10,000 drone light show.’
Footage posted online showed 10,197 drones lighting up the night sky in a blaze of colour that resembled a large firework display
According to a local government statement, ‘the drone formation evolved from “a roc spreading its wings” to running humans’
According to a local government statement, ‘the drone formation evolved from “a roc spreading its wings” to running humans’.
The performance also claimed to have created ‘two Guinness World Records for “the most drones controlled by a single computer taking off at the same time” and “the most aerial patterns composed of drones”’.
The statement continued: ‘Nowadays, popular drone shows have become an important tourism consumption scene in Shenzhen.
‘More and more companies are entering the low-altitude tourism market, and gradually building a comprehensive low-altitude tourism industry system including drone shows, low-altitude sightseeing tours, low-altitude flight experiences, and low-altitude photography, attracting tourists from all over the world to Shenzhen’.
However, some users were concerned as they voiced fears over the possibility that the drones could be used as weapons to orchestrate an attack on civilians.
One user wrote: ‘This is terrifying when you consider the future of drone warfare.’
A second added: ‘Imagine that coming down on your city full of explosives. My gut tells me that this is inevitable, and will be a huge problem in the future.’
Another chimed in: ‘Imagine those drones with an explosive on them, and they are on to you. What can you do?’
A further comment read: ‘Imagine a drone swarm attack like that on a city’.
Their concerns come amid worries expressed by Republican lawmakers in the United States that the drones have been widely used in the war in Ukraine with many feared to have been built in China.
Another image of the drone show depicts the series of skyscrapers that dominate the Shenzhen skyline
Since the war began in 2021, drones – particularly small, cheap Chinese ones – have been a preferred armament in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
As the use of drones has expanded from a reconnaissance tool to kamikaze-styled single-use explosives, the Ukrainian government has increasingly relied on the tools to take out larger Russian targets like tanks and vehicle convoys.
Now, House Republicans are raising the alarm that as many as 10,000 drones are used in the war per month – almost all of which are coming from one single Chinese manufacturer.
They are so concerned, in fact, that a group of 11 lawmakers sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in May, demanding that he provide Ukraine with small American-made drones instead, saying it would constitute a ‘geopolitical victory’ for the US.
‘As the Department of Defense considers the delivery of additional aid to Ukraine, we strongly encourage you to include the delivery of small, American-made drones, which are essential for tactical success on the battlefield,’ the Republicans wrote to Austin this week.
‘These systems are the primary method for identifying targets, directing artillery fire, surveilling enemy positions, and enabling battlefield maneuvers and force protection.’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
