The US military has a plan to turn the Taiwan Strait into an 'unmanned hellscape' if China invades.

Back in March, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said the Pentagon aims to spend $1 billion this fiscal year on Replicator. A few capabilities have been highlighted as necessary for the first drones in the program, and the Pentagon is working with defense partners to develop and acquire these systems.

• The US has plans to employ thousands of drones if China invades Taiwan, the top US admiral in the Pacific said.
• The "unmanned hellscape" would buy the US time to come to the aid of Taiwan, he added.
• China's drills around the island last month raised questions about what a blockade or invasion would look like.

If China invades Taiwan, it may face a large, lethal drone force meant to make its military "miserable." At least that's the plan, according to the top US admiral in the Pacific, who said the "Hellscape" strategy is designed to distract China and buy the US time to respond.

"I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities," Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, told The Washington Post at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Shangri-La Dialogue Summit.

In doing so, he said, "I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything."

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, effectively acting as a kind of first line of defense.

At least that's the plan, according to the top US admiral in the Pacific, who said the "Hellscape" strategy is designed to distract China and buy the US time to respond.

"I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities," Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, told The Washington Post at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Shangri-La Dialogue Summit.

In doing so, he said, "I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything."

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, effectively acting as a kind of first line of defense.

This type of strategy would require heavy investments in cheap, reliable drones, which the US has been doing with its Replicator initiative. Last year, the Department of Defense officially announced the program, which is a long-term plan to field thousands of autonomous systems.

The first iteration of the Replicator initiative aims to accelerate all-domain, attritable autonomous systems to warfighters at speed and scale.

Switchblade 600 kamikaze drones in the running for Replicator mass production. AeroVironment’s (AV) Switchblade 600 loitering munition system has been selected for Tranche 1 of the first iteration of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Replicator initiative.

AV’s Switchblade 600 is a man-portable, extended-range loitering munition system equipped with an anti-armor warhead for engaging larger, hardened targets at greater distances.

With a 24-mile range, 40 minutes of loitering endurance and the ability to fly at speeds of up to 115 miles per hour, Switchblade 600s are built to destroy armored vehicles and other targets in multi-domain military operations. Switchblade 600s are built to destroy armored vehicles and other targets in multi-domain military operations.

The U.S. has provided several types of drones to Ukraine in military aid packages, including the Switchblade and Phoenix Ghost loitering munitions. The Switchblades also used by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have appeared in combat footage coming out of Ukraine, but the Pentagon has not disclosed just how many were sent.