China plans to build nearly 42,000 military drones over the next eight years, a Pentagon report estimated on Friday.
The land and sea-based drones are expected to cost about US$10.5 billion.
While the US Department of Defense’s annual report to US Congress on the Chinese military did not detail the potential impact of such a huge drone fleet on Taiwan, an analyst at a Washington-based think tank said it would be “substantial.”
Photo: Reuters
He said the autonomous aerial vehicles would be used to gather intelligence on a constant basis,and in the case of military conflict, could fill the skies over Taiwan to stage bombing and missile attacks.
Extensive references in the report to the Chinese threat to Taiwan are carried in separate Taipei Times coverage.
Three of the drones now under development, the Yilong, Sky Saber and Lijian, are to be configured to fire precision weapons, the report said.
“The acquisition and development of longer-range [drones] will increase China’s ability to conduct long-range reconnaissance and strike operations,” the report said. “China is working on a range of technologies to attempt to counter US and other countries’ ballistic missile defense systems, including maneuverable re-entry vehicles; multiple, independently targetable re-entry vehicles; decoys, chaff, jamming and thermal shielding... The US and China acknowledge that the Chinese tested a hypersonic glide vehicle [last year].”
This last weapon can travel at 10 times the speed of sound and is designed to carry nuclear warheads, reports showed.
It added that China is increasing the lethality of its conventional missile force by fielding a new ballistic missile, the CSS-11 (DF-16) which possesses an estimated range of 800km to 1,000km.
“The CSS-11, coupled with the already deployed conventional variant of the CSS-5 (DF-21) medium-range ballistic missile will improve China’s ability to strike not only Taiwan, but other regional targets,” the report said.
It said that the Chinese military is an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its top priority is not to defend the nation, but to preserve the power of the party.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and