{
  "id": 1648258,
  "title": "Chinese navy’s combat software guru Zhao Xiaozhe disappears from academy website",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/chinese-navys-combat-software-guru-zhao-xiaozhe-disappears-from",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T06:00:14.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Reuters Business via SCMP",
    "slug": "reuters-business-via-scmp",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3364364/chinese-navys-combat-software-guru-zhao-xiaozhe-disappears-academy-website"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Zhao Xiaozhe, a veteran naval software expert and vice-admiral in the People's Liberation Army Navy, has disappeared from the Chinese Academy of Engineering's online membership list. The 63-year-old, who once led the Central Military Commission's top science and technology body, has vanished along with other prominent defence experts, including a nuclear weapons scientist, a radar specialist, and a missile designer. Zhao's profile was removed from the academy's online museum of academicians and from the academy website itself. Zhao was elected to the academy in 2011 while working at the Dalian Naval Academy, where he served as a professor and doctoral supervisor. He led major research programs on battlefield management, warship command-and-control systems, and the development of reliable military software. Zhao's work played a crucial role in establishing a domestic system for developing combat software, introducing a new command structure for surface warships, and building a three-tier decision-support system for naval operations.",
  "summary": "A top naval software expert, whose work helped warships to process battlefield information and support combat decisions, has vanished from the Chinese Academy of Engineering’s online membership list. Zhao Xiaozhe, 63, a vice-admiral in the PLA Navy, once headed the Central Military Commission’s top science and technology body, helping to shape research priorities across China’s armed forces. He…",
  "key_points": [
    "Zhao Xiaozhe, 63-year-old naval software expert, disappears from academy website",
    "Prominent defense experts, including nuclear weapons scientist, vanish from online list",
    "Zhao's work crucial for domestic combat software system establishment"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The disappearance of Zhao Xiaozhe from official listings signals a likely purge of prominent defence experts, potentially disrupting China's military software and technology development programs.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "Chinese navy’s combat software guru Zhao Xiaozhe disappears from academy website",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/chinese-navys-combat-software-guru-zhao-xiaozhe-disappears-from-1650976",
        "published": "2026-08-18T06:00:14.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}