The US plans to deploy thousands of drones in the Taiwan Strait in an operation called “Hellscape” to ensure that any attempt by China to invade Taiwan does not succeed, US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo told the Washington Post.
In an article published on Monday, columnist Josh Rogin quoted Paparo as saying from the sidelines of the recent Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum in Singapore that the “Hellscape” strategy would involve deploying thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation, Washington and its partners time to assemble a response.
The plan was devised to deter Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who is likely hoping to mount an overwhelming attack with little warning to avoid a protracted war of attrition similar to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the column quoted Paparo as saying.
Photo: AFP
“I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” he said. “So that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.”
While he said it could not reveal the details of the plan, the US Department of Defense in March announced “Replicator,” a US$1 billion initiative to manufacture thousands of “attritable autonomous systems.”
Paparo said that the initiative was based on the lessons the US has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, drones alone would not be enough to match the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s buildup of forces with an estimated US$700 billion annual military budget, he said.
The US Indo-Pacific Command was US$11 billion short of the funding it needs for this year, the article said, citing a letter by Paparo’s predecessor to the US Congress in March.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
RSS