The United States intends to use thousands of drones (unmanned aircraft) over the next two years to counter China’s advantage in terms of military personnel and equipment, a senior defense official said Monday.
Beijing’s main trump card is “mass effect: more ships, more missiles, more people,” Kathleen Hicks, deputy defense secretary, told a conference in Washington.
“We will fight the Chinese army in numerical terms, but ours will be harder to predict, harder to attack, harder to defeat,” said the Pentagon’s number two.
The US military wants to launch thousands of drones “for various purposes” over the next 18 to 24 months, Kathleen Hicks added.
The US sees China as a big challenge and is trying to avoid any conflict, especially over Taiwan.
Although it recognized the People’s Republic of China at the diplomatic level in 1979, the United States remains Taiwan’s strongest ally, as well as its main arms supplier.
Beijing considers the island part of its territory and does not rule out taking it back one day by force, if necessary.
Source: TSF
