In the past year, the participation of unmanned combat forces in military operations has been increasing, whether in the Russia Ukraine battlefield or conflicts in the Middle East, highlighting their role as a multiplier of combat effectiveness. In 2025, many countries around the world will continue to accelerate the development and deployment of unmanned equipment, and accelerate the formation of specialized and large-scale unmanned combat forces. As a result, significant changes will occur in the military organization system and force structure, and manned/unmanned collaborative combat will become an important way to apply unmanned combat forces. In recent years, the performance of unmanned systems has been continuously upgraded, accelerating the transformation of combat forms and methods. According to Associate Professor Zhao Xiangang from the Joint Operations College of National Defense University, unmanned combat platforms are showing a trend of diversified and intelligent development. At multiple international defense exhibitions held in 2024, large unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vessels, and unmanned underwater vehicles have attracted much attention. High speed, large payload, and long endurance make the comprehensive combat performance of large unmanned combat platforms stronger, "Zhao Xiangang introduced. In addition to developing large unmanned aerial vehicles, the" Overlord "unmanned ship being tested by the US military has a displacement of nearly 2000 tons, long endurance, and can also be equipped with the MK41 vertical launch system and advanced electronic warfare equipment. Large unmanned combat platforms are expensive, complex to operate, and have certain limitations in battlefield applications. From recent regional conflicts, small unmanned equipment has a wider applicability Zhao Xiangang said, for example, that in 2024, Türkiye announced the successful test of the new "Kagu" patrol missile equipped with armour piercing warheads; The US Army has procured and equipped a large number of "Spring Knife" cruise missiles; In the street fighting in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army achieved significant combat results using the "Spike Firefly" cruise missile. Zhao Xiangang stated that small unmanned systems, represented by small drones and patrol missiles, have low costs, are easy to carry, and are flexible to use. In the future, they may become standard equipment for infantry like rifles and grenades, realizing the normal use of team and individual combat, fundamentally changing the style of offensive and defensive operations. The use of artificial intelligence to enhance autonomous combat capabilities will become the development direction of future unmanned combat platforms Zhao Xiangang introduced that unmanned combat platforms embedded with intelligent modules or agents can autonomously maneuver into the battlefield and complete reconnaissance, judgment, decision-making, and strikes based on changes in the battlefield situation, achieving a rapid closure of the "discovery and strike" kill chain. With the improvement of performance and the emergence of new characteristics in construction and application, the construction and battlefield use of unmanned combat forces have received more attention, and their application methods and force composition have shown new features. Large scale application will become the norm. Zhao Xiangang stated that unmanned systems are extensively equipped with troops and can cooperate with manned combat forces to complete tasks such as reconnaissance, interference, guidance, strike, and logistical support. The clustered use of unmanned systems similar to drone swarms can convert numerical advantages into combat effectiveness. In recent years, in regional conflicts, dozens of drones often conduct concentrated raids on combat targets at the same time, and this situation will become more common in the future. The collaborative use of human/unmanned systems will become more widespread. The current combat application of unmanned systems mainly provides intelligence information support and completes firepower support under weak adversarial intensity. In the future, with the support of a global information network, manned and unmanned combat forces will be more organically mixed and organized to form an integrated tactical combat group, collaborating to complete different types of offensive and defensive combat tasks, achieving complementary advantages and overlapping effectiveness, "said Zhao Xiangang. Unmanned combat forces will accelerate into armies. Given the significant effectiveness of the use of drones in recent regional conflicts, some countries have established independent drone squadrons, drone brigades, and other units. Zhao Xiangang believes that there will be two development trends in the organizational structure of unmanned combat units in the future. One is an independently organized unmanned combat unit, mainly equipped with large and medium-sized unmanned systems, to perform tasks such as strategic and campaign level reconnaissance and surveillance, target guidance, communication relay, firepower strike, and transportation and supply; The second is to integrate manned/unmanned mixed forces formed by manned combat forces, train them together in peacetime, and use them together in wartime. At present, the US Army is forming a tactical experimental unit called the "Man Machine Grouping", which incorporates reconnaissance, strike, and transport unmanned vehicles and drones into existing heavy mechanized companies to test the grouping structure and combat effectiveness of manned/unmanned hybrid units. Anti unmanned combat has attracted much attention. Where there is a spear, there is a shield. With the rapid development of unmanned combat forces, how to counter them has received increasing attention. Zhao Xiangang stated that the current anti unmanned combat strategy involves using methods such as network intrusion and electronic interference to disrupt the enemy's communication system; The second is to cause direct damage through laser and microwave weapons, as well as anti-aircraft guns, air defense missiles, etc. In practice, these anti unmanned combat methods are often tested and validated based on a single technology, lacking systematic design in tactical application. In December 2024, the US Department of Defense passed the "Anti Unmanned Systems Strategy", which includes the establishment of a joint anti small unmanned aerial vehicle system office and the launch of anti unmanned combat plans. Zhao Xiangang pointed out that based on the protection of key targets and the actual combat needs of the battlefield, the comprehensive application of various anti unmanned equipment and technological means, and the integration of anti unmanned combat into the joint combat system, will be the key focus of improving the effectiveness of anti unmanned combat in the future. Zhao Xiangang said that in the selection of targets for anti unmanned combat, treating the opponent's unmanned combat platform, communication command chain, and related command personnel as a system, and disrupting any of these links can often lead to the failure of their combat operations. In terms of means, specialized anti unmanned equipment will be scientifically combined with traditional offensive and defensive weapons, deployed in multiple domains, and utilize joint combat capabilities to suppress the effectiveness of opponent unmanned combat. Unmanned combat forces are accelerating towards the battlefield. In the future, human/unmanned collaboration, artificial intelligence empowerment, and anti unmanned warfare will become topics of continuous research and exploration for military forces of various countries Zhao Xiangang said. (New Society)