According to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks’ speech on Monday, the Pentagon believes that by fielding thousands of attritable autonomous systems across domains in less than two years, the US would be able to overcome China’s advantage of mass in personnel, ships, aircraft, and missiles.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks statement about the Pentagon’s plan to counter China’s military edge (Photo: Britannica)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks stated at a National Defense Industrial Association event that with the Replicator Initiative,” we’ll fight the PLA’s (People’s Liberation Army’s) mass with mass of our own, but ours will be harder to plan for, harder to hit, and harder to beat.”
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, according to USNI News, did not clarify the types of autonomous systems that would be developed through the effort, nor did she give a price tag. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said “We must insure that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] leadership wakes up every day, considers the pitfalls of aggression, and concludes, ‘today is not the day'”.
The dates Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks refocused out reflect concerns about China’s capability to carry out military options, such as the hypothetical 2027 timeline for an all-out invasion of Taiwan, which is grounded on President Xi Jinping’s target date for having his forces militarily equipped for that prospect.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks added “In the 18 months since the invasion, we’ve sent Ukraine over 3.1 million rockets, missiles, mortar rounds, and artillery rounds — and that’s just four categories of munitions. We’ve sent and committed substantially more military aid, reaching more than $43 billion. In addition, through collaborating with the business sector, we have assisted Ukraine in gaining access to critical commercial technical capabilities that have made a significant difference on the battlefield.”
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Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said “To be successful, the plan will bear tight collaboration between the Pentagon and the private sector, including “non-traditional and traditional defense companies,” as well as allies and partners. Congress “has an chance to be a key enabler in getting capabilities to the warfighter at speed and scale,”.
According to Barron’s, the US declares China to be a consequential challenge and seeks to avoid conflict with Beijing, particularly over the democratically self-ruled island of Taiwan.
China claims Taiwan as its own and has often threatened to take over the territory, using force if necessary.
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