Land, sea, air-based strategic weapons, hypersonic weapons to debut at V-Day military parade: official

A press conference on V-Day military parade preparations is held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Some of China's land, sea, air-based strategic weapons and hypersonic weapons are set to make their debut at the V-Day military parade on September 3 in Beijing, and the preparations for the military parade have been basically completed, according to a press conference hosted by China's State Council Information Office on Wednesday.

The press conference outlined preparations for the upcoming event and briefed some details of the highly-anticipated event.

The military parade will be conducted in two steps: the review and the march-past, lasting approximately 70 minutes. In the march-past part, the formations will pass through Tiananmen Square in the following order: the air flag guard echelon, the foot formations, the battle flag formations, the equipment formations, and the air echelons. A total of 45 formations/echelons are arranged for this parade, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The equipment formations are organized into joint operational groups in a combat-oriented manner, including the land operations group, maritime operations group, air and missile defense group, information operations group, unmanned operations group, logistics and equipment support group, and strategic strike group, among others, Xinhua reported.

The air echelons are organized in a modular and systematic manner, consisting of advanced early warning and command aircraft, fighter jets, bombers, transport aircraft and more. They basically cover the main active-duty aircraft types of the Chinese military, with some making their public debut for the first time, according to the Xinhua report.

Some land, sea, and air-based strategic weapons, hypersonic precision strike weapons, and unmanned and counter-unmanned equipment are set to be displayed to the outside world for the first time, per Xinhua.

The number and models of equipment to be reviewed at the parade will exceed 100, CCTV News reported.

All the weaponry and equipment on display in the upcoming military parade are domestically produced active-duty main battle equipment, according to the press conference. This event showcases a concentrated display of the new generation of weaponry and equipment of the Chinese military following the National Day military parade in 2019. Its main features are as follows: It highlights new fourth-generation equipment as the main body, demonstrating the Chinese military's system combat capability; it showcases the Chinese military's new domain and new quality combat capabilities; and it displays the Chinese military's strong strategic deterrence capability, Xinhua reported.

The military parade will feature new fourth-generation equipment as the core, including advanced tanks, carrier-based aircraft and fighter jets, organized into operational modules to demonstrate Chinese military's system-based combat capability. A selection of new forces, covering land, sea and air unmanned intelligent and counter-unmanned systems, as well as cyber and electronic warfare units, will also take part, with equipment such as new drones, directed-energy weapons and electronic jamming systems, showcasing Chinese military's new-domain and new-quality combat capabilities. In addition, a range of advanced equipment, including hypersonic weapons, air and missile defense systems and strategic missiles, will be unveiled to highlight Chinese military's strong strategic deterrence. The specific models of weapons and equipment in the parade will be revealed soon, according to CCTV News.

At present, all preparations for the upcoming military parade have been basically completed. All the officers and soldiers taking part in the parade will present themselves in high spirits to be reviewed by the Party and the people, as we welcome September 3 together, a victory day worthy of eternal commemoration by the people of the world, Xinhua reported.