Showcasing Growing Ties, China Allegedly Buys Russian Command-and-Control System

Despite the draining war in Ukraine, Russian arms dealers remain able to supply an important customer: China. On August 14, The Insider, a European-based independent investigative journalism outlet, released an assessment of Russian documents leaked by the hacker group Blackmoon indicating that Russia developed an automated command-and-control system (ACS) — which is used to manage forces in combat more efficiently — for China’s airborne forces.

The revelations signal China’s desire for Russian key military technology to upgrade its forces. This type of commerce also solidifies an emerging Axis of Aggressors, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, that threatens U.S. national security.

Russian Firm Shipped Documents to Designated Chinese Military While Chinese Military Personnel Trained in Russia

The leaked documents reveal that ROSOBORONEXPORT, a Russian state-backed defense exporter, signed a $34.9 million contract in April 2021 with a subsidiary of the China Electronic Science and Technology Trading Co. (CETC). The United States has already sanctioned both firms. Their agreement, which covers several stages of joint development, also aids Chinese efforts to indigenously produce ACS assets. The Russian Research Institute of Communication and Control Systems, a key designer of the ACS, shipped product documentation and other technical specifications to CETC in June 2024. It is unclear whether the ACS units have been delivered to the Chinese military or integrated into any formations.

The contract provides for 60 Chinese military personnel to train with Russian experts in using ACS to conduct airborne assaults at the campus of JSC Tulatochmash, a Russian firm. These training programs were intended to focus on ensuring that Chinese paratroopers and commanders could operate the ACS under battlefield conditions — a possible challenge given China’s lack of recent combat experience.

Beijing’s Defense Industry Has Deep Roots in Moscow

The close collaboration between Russia and China highlights Beijing’s long-standing ties to Moscow’s defense-industrial complex. While China has ramped up its efforts to indigenize its defense industrial base through programs that align the country’s military and civilian sectors, many of the country’s initial military platforms and weapons were based on Soviet designs. Russian arms manufacturers were also key in fueling China’s early military modernization efforts, which began following China’s disastrous invasion of Vietnam in 1979. Russia supplied much of China’s air defense system, anti-ship missiles, and military aircraft engines between 2001 and 2010.

This collaboration on the factory floor has increasingly transitioned toward cooperation in the field. In 2021, the People’s Liberation Army took the lead in a combined exercise held in western China that saw Russian soldiers operate Chinese weapons and systems. Recently, China and Russia have conducted joint bomber patrols, including inside Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone, along with expanded naval exercises along the coasts of Japan and eastern Russia.

Washington Should Bolster Sanctions Enforcement

This sale, coupled with growing military-to-military cooperation, signals China’s enduring reliance on Russia for niche military capabilities that have a significant impact on readiness — ones that Beijing cannot readily replicate.

In response, the U.S. Treasury Department should introduce new sanctions targeting Russian and Chinese firms, such as the China Construction Bank Corporation, which financed part of the contract involved in defense-industrial ties between the two countries. This strategy should be coupled with tighter sanctions — and their enforcement — on Russian energy flows, which provide Russia with much-needed cash and China with discounted crude oil and natural gas.

Jack Burnham is a research analyst in the China Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Jack and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Jack on X @JackBurnham802. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.