NYT: Taiwan, following Ukraineʼs example, is creating a “drone army” in case of a Chinese invasion

Taiwan is building a fleet of aerial drones and unmanned boats to counter the threat from China, drawing on Ukraineʼs experience in the war against Russia.

The New York Times writes about this.

The Taiwanese military wants to use drones in all phases of a possible war — from reconnaissance and searching for Chinese troops to striking ships and other targets. To do this, the military is being trained to move quickly so as not to be an easy target for Chinese strikes.

The strategy, dubbed “Hellscape”, was developed by the US military. The idea is to confront Chinese forces with waves of drones, missiles, and artillery, and make a landing on the island so dangerous that Beijing will abandon its invasion attempt.

Taiwan is particularly keen to follow the Ukrainian experience. Ukraine uses relatively cheap and maneuverable drones to inflict losses on the Russian army. So the Taiwanese military is eager to use this approach against China, which has a significant advantage in military resources.

In particular, by 2030, Taiwan plans to produce 100 000 drones per month, about half of them for export, and to purchase more than 210 000 air and sea drones.

Taiwan is already practicing new tactics. During the 10-day Han Kuang military exercises, the military is practicing using drones to scout for and destroy enemy drones. Last month, the Taiwanese military also conducted an exercise in which drones searched for forces of a hypothetical enemy off the island’s east coast.

Separately, Taiwan is developing unmanned boats. They can scout the area, find Chinese ships, and attack them. According to experts, Ukrainian experience in long-range drone strikes could help Taiwan attack ships before they even approach the island.

At the same time, experts emphasize that purchasing drones is not enough. Taiwan will have to change its military training, unit organization, and tactics to effectively manage large groups of drones and protect them from Chinese electronic warfare.

China is also actively developing its own drones and technologies for their detection and suppression. Therefore, experts note, Beijing is also closely monitoring how Ukraine uses drones in war.

• China has increasingly promised to “reunify” the island with the Chinese mainland by 2022. The ruling Communist Party considers Taiwan part of its territory. The United States supports Taiwan with weapons but has not explicitly stated whether it would intervene if China attacked.
• In mid-May, Axios, citing sources, wrote: The United States fears that such an invasion will occur within the next five years. Against this background, the Taiwanese government plans to increase its defense budget by 16% in 2027, to more than $34 billion. The planned defense budget will exceed $31 billion for the first time.

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