Russia has just wrapped up hosting mass military drills involving troops and defense technology from eight countries which state media hailed as applying lessons learned from the Ukraine war.

The Tsentr-2026, or Centre-2026, drills ran throughout all last week into Saturday, located in the central western Chelyabinsk region, which is situated in the southern Ural Mountains - with on Friday President Putin being on hand to observe the exercise.

Importantly, China's military took part, in addition to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said of what were primarily strategic command-and-staff exercises that they "applied" combat lessons from the Ukraine war to "repel external aggression in the Central Asian direction."

Over 47,000 troops from across the different countries' militaries took part at the Chebarkul training ground, in drills that further featured rehearsal for long-distance deployment and joint operational planning as well as launching operations against an entrenched enemy.

China Central Television (CCTV) indicated that the PLA troops came from the Central Theater Command, including members of the 82nd Group Army and a combined-arms brigade.

Chinese regional sources further noted the PLA rolled out unmanned systems and practiced launching drone swarms:

The PLA Daily said the drills’ operational planning and live-fire manoeuvres helped to "consolidate multilateral traditional friendship and improve joint action capabilities", while allowing the Chinese military to test its logistical reach, troop deployment capability, and combined arms coordination in unfamiliar terrain.

According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, the PLA deployed a combination of Type 99A main battle tanks with drones, uncrewed ground vehicles and helicopters, during the exercise, showcasing its growing integration of crewed and unmanned systems.

The PLA deployed drone swarms to provide precise target data to ground combat groups, with tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, armed helicopters and unmanned ground combat vehicles coordinating strikes against targets, the report said.

Another interesting note: "The report also said that all the troops involved in the exercise were stationed underground to avoid drone strikes."

This has certainly become a reality of life along the front lines in Ukraine, with the battlefield having become transformed and fully automated - or something that looks straight out of Terminator 2 and Skynet - with unmanned aircraft hovering, looking for targets on the surface.