The US Department of Defense needs to “swiftly develop counter drone capabilities,” as US forces are unprepared for threats from low-cost drones in the Middle East or in potential conflicts with China over Taiwan, a US think tank said on Wednesday.
US air dominance is being undermined by drones used as mass precision weapons, as seen in the Middle East, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) said in a report.
CNAS defense program director Stacie Pettyjohn and research assistant Molly Campbell in the report analyzed US combat operations in the Middle East to assess whether the country is prepared for drone threats, especially from China.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
Since 2004, Iran-produced drones have provided Tehran-backed proxy forces with cheap precision weapons more accurate than missiles or rockets, imposing disproportionate costs on the US, the report said.
US troops have used missiles costing up to millions of dollars to take down drones worth US$50,000, which is not cost-effective or sustainable, CNAS said.
The report described China as Washington’s “foremost strategic threat,” and said that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army “is rapidly advancing its drone capabilities by developing more autonomous systems and acquiring them at scale.”
CNAS conducted a tabletop exercise to examine US capabilities against Chinese drone attacks if a protracted war over Taiwan took place, with US forces operating from a Japanese outlying island and the Philippines, the report said.
The exercise showed that Chinese drones pose a very different threat than those in the Middle East or Ukraine, it said.
Given the Indo-Pacific region’s vast distances and geography, sustained drone attacks could suppress US forces and overwhelm active defenses, such as jammers, missile interceptors and high-power microwaves, the report said.
CNAS recommended that the US build large stockpiles of proven counter drone systems and invest in mobile, easily repositioned defenses to protect forces across the region.
“Without deep magazines of substantially enhanced counter-drone capabilities, the United States risks having its distributed warfighting strategies overwhelmed by massed Chinese drone attacks, and could lose a war over Taiwan,” it said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
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