Modernization Doctrine

"Changing Lanes to Overtake"! Using the "Tao's Law" to Open Up a New Track

“换道超车”！用“韬定律”开辟新赛道

PLA Daily (解放军报) 23 August 2026

Summary

A PLA author writing under the byline Hao Dongbai uses 'Tao's Law'—a semiconductor industry concept substituting temporal for geometric miniaturization via mature process nodes—as an extended analogy to argue that the PLA should abandon tonnage-centric mechanized warfare metrics in favor of intelligentized unmanned swarms, distributed combat nodes, low-cost precision strike weapons, and modular 'logic-folded' (逻辑折叠) force architectures. The piece documents how PLA doctrinal writers are actively translating commercial technology concepts into operational design arguments, specifically to justify deprioritizing traditional heavy-force procurement in favor of 新质战斗力 (new-quality combat capabilities). The framing points to an ongoing institutional debate about how to measure combat power and allocate resources, though the article itself does not identify which commands, programs, or acquisition decisions are at stake.

Translation

Opening a New Track with "Tao's Law"

■ Hao Dongbai

In a situation where the chip industry has become mired in physical limits and cost dilemmas, Tao's Law charts a different course, substituting "temporal miniaturization" for "geometric miniaturization" and achieving breakthroughs by leveraging mature process nodes. This method of "changing lanes to overtake" carries important lessons for how to break through the traditional rules framework of warfare.

Traditional mechanized warfare follows the linear rule of "tonnage equals combat power," competing on the quantity of heavy equipment, armor thickness, and firepower range. Winning future wars requires us to draw on Tao's Law and proactively leap out of the "track" preset by traditional rules. First, we must reconstruct the standards of victory and defeat—shattering the ingrained assumption that "the more heavy equipment and the greater the mass, the stronger the combat power"—and establish a new conception of victory and defeat centered on system effectiveness, precision destruction and paralysis, cognitive control, and cost-effectiveness. Second, we must open up new-quality tracks (新质赛道), avoiding resource-attrition-style benchmarking against adversaries in the domain of traditional main battle equipment, and instead vigorously developing new-quality combat capabilities (新质战斗力) such as intelligentized unmanned swarms, distributed combat nodes, low-cost precision strike weapons, and cross-domain integrated operational systems. Third, we must innovate operational modes, driving a transformation of combat organization from large-scale, centralized formations toward smaller, modular, and intelligentized ones; relying on efficient information networking to achieve distributed deployment, flexible aggregation and dispersal, and cross-domain linkage; and using entirely new system-of-systems advantages to offset the adversary's traditional heavy-force advantages.

The core technology underlying Tao's Law is "logic folding (逻辑折叠)"—reconstructing circuit architecture through vertical stacking, shortening signal transmission paths, and dramatically improving efficiency without changing device dimensions. Mapped onto the military domain, this architectural reshaping is fundamentally about optimizing the spatial layout and functional integration of operational elements to improve the operational tempo of the system as a whole. First, at the micro level: functional integration of combat units. This means changing the traditional pattern in which reconnaissance, firepower, communications, and other elements are dispersed in deployment and slow to respond. Drawing on "folding" thinking, functions such as reconnaissance and sensing, target location, precision strike, and information communications are highly integrated into small combat units, achieving "strike upon detection." Second, at the meso level: dynamic aggregation and dispersal of swarm operations. Individual unmanned platforms have limited capability, but through intelligent networking and architectural reshaping, flexible employment of "breaking the whole into parts and reassembling parts into a whole" can be achieved. When dispersed, they evade reconnaissance and strikes; when aggregated, multiple swarms operate in coordination and conduct layered assaults, executing saturation precision strikes against the enemy's critical or vulnerable points, achieving high-lethality effects at low cost. Third, at the system level: distributed reconstruction of defensive networks. Dispersed nodes—combat platforms and operational elements—are "folded" and integrated through intelligent networking to construct a distributed low-altitude defense system with broad airspace coverage and elastic survivability, realizing "small nodes, large networks, strong resilience." This architectural reshaping can significantly enhance battlefield survivability and defensive effectiveness.

Recent practice in localized armed conflicts demonstrates that low-cost, highly mobile, intelligentized unmanned platform swarms can achieve asymmetric operational effects. This enlightens us: we must have the courage to break free from the constraints of traditional rules, focus on developing asymmetric advantages, optimize the integration of operational elements and the operational mode of the system as a whole, open up new tracks in the development of new-domain and new-quality (新域新质) combat forces, and win strategic initiative through rules innovation.

Original Chinese

用“韬定律”开辟新赛道 ■郝东白在芯片产业陷入物理极限与成本困局的情况下，韬定律另辟蹊径，以“时间缩微”替代“几何缩微”，依托成熟制程实现突破。这种“换道超车”之法，对如何突破战争的传统规则框架具有重要借鉴意义。传统机械化战争遵循“吨位即战力”的线性规则，比拼重型装备的数量、装甲厚度与火力射程。打赢未来战争，则要求我们借鉴韬定律主动跳出传统规则预设的“赛道”。一要重构胜负标准，打破“重型装备越多、体量越大战力越强”的固有认知，确立以体系效能、精确毁瘫、认知控制、成本效益为核心的新胜负观。二要开辟新质赛道，避免在传统主战装备领域与对手进行资源消耗型对标，转而大力发展智能化无人集群、分布式作战节点、低成本精确打击武器、跨域融合作战体系等新质战斗力。三要创新作战样式，推动作战编制由大型集中式向小型化、模块化、智能化转变，依托高效信息组网，实现分布式部署、灵活聚散、跨域联动，以全新体系优势抵消对手传统重装优势。韬定律落地的核心技术是“逻辑折叠”——通过垂直堆叠重构电路架构，缩短信号传输路径，在不改变器件尺寸前提下大幅提升效率。这一架构重塑映射到军事领域，根本在于优化作战要素的空间布局与功能集成，提升体系运行时效。一是微观层面作战单元功能集成化。改变传统作战中侦察、火力、通信等要素分散部署、响应迟缓的模式。借鉴“折叠”思维，将侦察感知、目标定位、精确打击、信息通联等功能高度集成于小型战斗单元，实现“发现即打击”。二是中观层面集群作战动态聚散化。单个无人平台能力有限，但通过智能组网与架构重塑，可实现“化整为零、聚零为整”的灵活运用。分散时规避侦察打击，聚合时多群协同、分层突击，针对敌要害或薄弱环节实施饱和式精确打击，以低成本集群达成高毁伤效果。三是体系层面防御网络分布式重构。将作战平台和作战要素等分散节点，通过智能组网“折叠”整合，构建覆盖空域、弹性抗毁的分布式低空防御体系，实现“小节点、大网络、强韧性”。这种架构重塑，能够显著提升战场生存能力和防御效能。近期局部武装冲突实践表明，低成本、高机动、智能化的无人平台集群，能实现非对称作战效果。这启示我们，要勇于突破传统规则束缚，聚焦发展非对称优势，优化作战要素集成与体系运行模式，在新域新质作战力量建设上开辟新赛道，以规则创新赢得战略主动。