Europe’s suppliers, by comparison, are more fragmented, generally operate at lower volumes and lack the certainty of long-term defence demand, Tyndyk noted.
AeroMotors’ customers include Ukrainian drone makers. The company said in December 2025 that it had a production capacity of about 10,000 drone motors a month and, amid increased demand, was targeting 60,000 following investment from Swedish venture capital firm Front Ventures.
Hao of Ploughshares Fund noted how individual components may not be “technologically exceptional” for Europe.
“But China’s integrated ecosystem – from materials and parts to assembly and logistics – can deliver reliable products at low cost, high volume and fast pace,” he said.
Those capabilities were built on decades of civilian demand, dense electronics clusters, industrial policy, competition and economies of scale, rather than a deliberately designed military supply-chain strategy, Hao said.
That manufacturing depth has become increasingly important as the war in Ukraine has transformed how drones are developed and used, said Bryce Barros, a defence innovation and dual-use technology strategist and associate fellow at GLOBSEC, a Europe-based think tank.
“The technologies are changing so quickly that what becomes more important is having an ecosystem that can support that fast iteration rather than focusing on developing that single product or platform,” he told CNA.
LEVERAGE, BUT NOT A FREE HAND
China’s deeply embedded position in the drone supply chain gives Beijing an advantage that is “primarily structural rather than transactional”, said Hao from Ploughshares Fund.
“China wants neither Europe to view China as enabling Russia nor Moscow to view it as arming Ukraine.”
The balancing act comes as Brussels has repeatedly accused Beijing of helping sustain Russia’s war effort by supplying dual-use goods and technologies to Moscow’s military-industrial base, allegations China has consistently rejected. The EU has sanctioned more than 100 Chinese companies and individuals over alleged support for Russia’s military capabilities.
Beijing says it has maintained an objective and impartial position on the Ukraine conflict, promoted peace talks and opposed unilateral sanctions against Chinese companies.
Read the full article here
