China has taken the race for miniature unmanned systems a step further by unveiling a mosquito-sized drone built by the National University of Defense Technology. Shown on state broadcaster CCTV-7 on 20 June, the bionic craft measures about 0.6 centimetres and weighs roughly a quarter of a gram—small enough to perch on a fingertip. The device, fitted with leaf-shaped wings that can beat up to 500 times a second and three hair-thin legs, is designed for covert battlefield reconnaissance where conventional drones are too bulky or noisy. Researchers displayed both two- and four-wing prototypes, the latter controllable from a smartphone. They said the platform could slip through windows, hover indoors and relay real-time images. Military analysts interviewed by Business Insider deem the concept promising for short-range surveillance but note constraints in battery life, payload capacity and vulnerability to air currents, factors that limit its usefulness for wide-area missions. The micro-UAV forms part of a broader Chinese push into insect-scale robotics. In July, the Beijing Institute of Technology reported fitting live bees with a 74-milligram brain-control chip that steers their flight with 90 percent accuracy. The researchers said such cyborg insects could serve as scouts in urban combat or disaster zones, exploiting natural camouflage and manoeuvrability that even the smallest mechanical drones struggle to match. Although neither the mosquito drone nor the cyborg bees has entered service, the projects underline China’s determination to fuse biology and engineering for stealth sensing. Defence specialists say the work could accelerate global efforts to develop sub-centimetre surveillance platforms and intensify debates over export controls, counter-drone measures and the ethical limits of militarising living organisms.