The Sharp Sword: China’s Drone Threat

[TomSea]

The Sharp Sword: China’s Drone Threat | RealClearDefense
By Sam Roggeveen

Combat drones could loiter over targets for hours longer
than a crewed aircraft, posing a very different type of threat.

In Saudi Arabia, a combined drone and cruise missile attack conducted by still-unknown forces (either Iran, Iraqi proxy groups, Yemeni militia forces, or a combination of all three) caused significant damage to the Kingdom’s most important oil facility. Defence writer Tyler Rogoway is alarmed about the implications:

… this was an unprecedented attack… It’s well established what non-state actors can already do with relatively low-end unmanned aircraft technology – Houthi rebels alone have been using suicide drones for two and a half years – just imagine what a peer state will be able to do in the very near future … America's adversaries are all too aware of this game-changing potential and the lack of defences to counter it in any robust manner.

Phrases such as “game-changing” should be used sparingly. If states can develop weapons of this type, they can also develop defences against them. But Rogoway is certainly right that America doesn’t have such defences yet, nor does Australia.

Read more at: https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/09/25/the_sharp_sword_chinas_drone_threat_114766.html