China exhibits New Mosquito-Like Recon Drone which ‘Fits in the Palm’.

China has developed a mosquito-sized unmanned aerial system designed to support stealth military operations, according to state media. Equipped with micro-cameras and sensors, China’s mosquito-like drone is engineered for covert missions. Built by the state-owned National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) in Hunan Province, the tech features leaf-shaped wings and three hair-thin legs, a design aimed at mimicking the flight and appearance of real insects.

Its size reportedly allows it to hide in the palm of a hand or slip through windows, making it nearly invisible to the naked eye and difficult to detect using conventional radar.

The Limits of Going Small –

Beyond the battlefield, palm-sized drones could play a role in navigating through rubble to locate survivors, or monitoring air and water quality in hard-to-reach places. But there are trade-offs. These systems typically suffer from limited payloads, short flight times, and constrained onboard processing power.

NUDT researchers noted that one of the major challenges in developing the mosquito drone was miniaturizing critical autonomous components, which are still unavailable on the market. Still, the team said they have made progress in areas like micro-mechanics and artificial intelligence integration.

Rise of Miniature Drones –

China’s unveiling of the mosquito-sized drone follows an earlier debut of a bird-inspired surveillance system, reportedly modelled after the Eurasian tree sparrow. Revealed during the 2024 anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army, the drone is believed to be an ornithopter, an aircraft that stays airborne by flapping its wings.

The US military has also embraced small-scale drones. One example is the Black Hornet, a Norwegian-built microdrone about the size of a TV remote. Although much larger than China’s mosquito drone, the Black Hornet has proven effective in real-world combat, including on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Team Maverick