US plans to launch the ‘unmanned Hellscape’ plan if China invades Taiwan: Senior admiral

In the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the island could deploy a massive drone swarm designed to disrupt and harass the invading forces.

That is the plan for now, according to the top US admiral in the Pacific, who said the “Hellscape” plan is intended to divert China and buy the United States time to respond.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue Summit, Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, emphasised the potential for advanced unmanned systems to play a significant role in deterringconflict in the Taiwan Strait.

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“I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” Paparo said.

“I can make their lives absolutely miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything,” the admiral added.

It may be mentioned here, the plan involves launching thousands of unmanned systems, from surface vessels and submarines to aerial drones, to fight Chinese invading forces as soon as they begin to cross the Taiwan Strait.

This type of plan would need heavy investments in cheap, reliable drones, which the US has been doing with its Replicator initiative.

Last year, the Department of Defence officially announced the programme, outlining a long-term plan to field thousands of autonomous systems.

Back in March, Deputy Defence Secretary Kathleen Hicks said the Pentagon aims to spend US$1 billion this fiscal year on Replicator.

Previous summer, Hicks stated that Replicator aimed to neutralise China’s significant gains, which lie in its sheer size: "More ships. More missiles. More people."

She stated, "We’ll counter the People’s Liberation Army’s mass with our own, but ours will be more challenging to anticipate, target, and defeat."

(With inputs from agencies)