The U.S. has slowly lost its monopoly on the use of
military drones, with adversaries
like China now developing their own remotely-controlled weapons and
surveillance platforms — both for their own military, and for
export. China is now on the cutting-edge of drone technology, and this
has serious geopolitical implications.
- China seeks to
use the asymmetric nature of drones
against technologically superior foes - like the United States
- as it looks to assert itself in the surrounding region.
- China is
replacing Russia in the global marketplace as
the cheaper and less restricted alternative supplier of drone
technology. Other than the U.S., China is the sole exporter of
lethal drones, providing them to governments with questionable human
rights records, like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Myanmar.
How do
U.S. export restrictions
play into this — and what is the Trump administration doing to increase
U.S. competitiveness?
Read the full brief for
more insight.
Expert commentary...
Doug Wise, former
deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency:
- "Should
a U.S. warship all of sudden
get swarmed by hundreds if not a thousand small unarmed drones, it could
have disruptive and distracting effects – impacting electronics and
target acquisition for U.S. weapons systems by blinding them."
Read more from Wise on
China's military objectives – and the role played by unmanned
systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in achieving them.
Peter W.
Singer, strategist and senior fellow at New America:
- "We have
seen China move from being behind the curve
on this technology, to one of the world leaders. And when I say
world leaders, I don’t just mean user or seller of, but also
designer of some incredibly cutting edge technology."
Read more from Singer on
the capabilities of Chinese drones, how they compare to American systems,
and the implications of their proliferation around the globe.
|
