The Pentagon has unveiled a radical new strategy focused on fielding thousands of cheap, smart and autonomous war drones across multiple domains within 18 to 24 months to counter China¡¯s military advantage in personnel and manned equipment and deter a potential invasion of Taiwan.
Named ¡°Replicator,¡± the initiative is meant to help the United States ¡°overcome the PRC¡¯s (People¡¯s Republic of China¡¯s) biggest advantage, which is mass: more ships, more missiles, more people,¡± U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks told a conference in Washington late last month.
Hicks spoke of leveraging ¡°¡¯attritable,¡¯ autonomous systems¡± that are ¡°less expensive, put fewer people in the line of fire, and can be changed, updated or improved with substantially shorter lead times.¡±
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