‘Pew Pew’: The Chinese Companies Marketing Anti-Drone Weapons on TikTok

“Pew, pew, pew!” a woman wearing sneakers and high-waisted pink trousers says cheerfully in a video uploaded to TikTok. She is standing on what appears to be an industrial rooftop while demonstrating how to use a black device resembling an oversized laser tag gun. “Jamming gun, good,” she adds, flashing a thumbs up. “Contact me!”

These days, nearly any product imaginable is available for purchase on TikTok straight from Chinese factories, ranging from industrial chemicals to mystical crystals and custom pilates reformers. The app’s offerings, it appears, now also extend to drone jammers and other drone-related hardware with clear military and security applications.

In recent months, TikTok has become an improbable showroom for a drone economy that powers conflicts like Russia’s war in Ukraine. Eager to reach customers however they can, small Chinese drone manufacturers are publicly broadcasting tools of modern warfare, including anti-drone rifles, jammers, and sensors ...