China is preparing to reveal new hypersonic missiles capable of destroying ships at a military parade in Beijing as tensions rise with the West.
The "Victory Day" parade will be held in the capital city on Wednesday, September 3, to mark 80 years since the end of World War Two.
It will be China's largest ever military parade, showcasing not just advancements in arms hardware but also in vital technology needed to protect, control and command weapons which could be used in future conflict.
Among the more eye-catching weapons set to be displayed are hypersonic missiles, which could be deployed from bombers and ships, potentially complicating operations by US and allied ships across East Asia.
Tianran Xu, a senior analyst at Open Nuclear Network, told Bloomberg the weapons had been developed to increase "chances of defeating shipborne air defence systems, and are clearly developed with the aim to suppress the US Navy in the Western Pacific".
He added: "Few countries have developed so many anti-ship missiles that cover all imaginable categories.”
Equipment such as battlefield sensors on tanks, advanced early warning and targeting radars and air defence lasers will also be displayed at the parade.
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Wednesday's event is set to be China's biggest ever military parade
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A new medium-sized tank, the ZTZ-201, has meanwhile appeared in rehearsals bristling with what analysts believe are advanced sensors and battle management systems.
An entirely new weapon on show is also vexing analysts with its sudden appearance - a torpedo-shaped sea drone too large to be fired from ordinary submarines.
Ben Lewis, founder of open source data platform PLATracker, said its emergence suggested China had been closely tracking the US's own underwater drone programme.
But beyond the unprecedented scale and choreographed display of military might, questions remain about how effectively China's armed forces - untested since a bloody border conflict with Vietnam in 1979 - could knit it all together in a future conflict.
Leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in attendance
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Singapore-based security scholar Drew Thompson said while the People's Liberation Army may unveil advanced weapons and systems to protect and command them, China's key potential adversaries may not be deterred by the "bling" of a parade.
"It is performative but it doesn't speak to capability, and we still don't know how effectively China could tie it all together and operate in a conflict scenario," Mr Thompson explained.
The parade comes amid protracted military tensions across East Asia as China increases deployments around Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea and the US and its allies prepare potentially to respond to a regional conflict.
China claims Taiwan as its territory and has never renounced the use of force to seize it.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te and his government strongly object to China's sovereignty claims, saying it is up to the island's people to decide their future.
While the military leaderships of the US and its allies like Japan as well as Taiwan may not be deterred, others might be intimidated, Mr Thompson said.
To that end, China might be signalling to India, Russia and smaller regional nations as well as "American libertarian isolationists".
Parade deputy director, Wu Zeke, told an earlier press conference: "[The weapons and equipment] will fully demonstrate our military's robust ability to adapt to technological advancements, evolving warfare patterns, and win future wars."
The parade will be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-Un - the first time they have appeared in public alongside Xi.