Taipei should “flood” the Taiwan Strait with drones and other UAV-based defensive systems in readiness for invasion by Chinese forces.
That’s the advice of U.S. think tank the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in a report published on Thursday, February 27th. “Hellscape for Taiwan” argues that Taipei’s current approach to defense needs to be updated to match the growing strength of Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army. It also echoes Pentagon wargaming for the region, as reported in the summer of 2024.
A “hellscape,” in current military parlance, would result from the saturation of airspace and waters with thousands of drones and equivalent platforms. From here, invading forces could be struck from multiple domains at once. In this instance, Chinese ships and aircraft could lose superiority and incur heavy losses.
The cornerstone of the report’s recommendations is the mass production of affordable drones, which could ultimately deter or prevent Beijing’s goal of unifying the island Republic of China with its Communist-held mainland state.
Taiwan already wants to obtain more than 200,000 UAVs—and 1,000-plus unmanned surface vehicles—as part of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (€35 billion) special defense budget over the next seven years.
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