JOE SABALLA
he US military will need to invest in longer-range drones to effectively counter a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a DC-based think tank has claimed.
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS), which has been tracking developments in the island nation, said Beijing is positioned to take advantage of its large fleet of drones to quickly gain the upper hand in case of an armed conflict.
This is why the US and Taipei should immediately close the gap by purchasing sufficient quantities of “good enough” long-range drones to develop a layered defense.
These drones should be a mix of higher-end and cheaper systems to support missions in highly-contested airspace and enable quick replacement for those that will inevitably be lost, according to the report.
Furthermore, there must also be autonomous kamikaze drones in the fleet to attack Chinese warships and potentially overwhelm enemy air defenses.
The US military operates exquisite unmanned assets, such as the MQ-9 Reaper with a range of 1,150 miles (1,850 kilometers) and the RQ-4 Global Hawk, which can fly up to 14,155 miles (22,779 kilometers).
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