The Pentagon has revealed a new batch of low-cost, uncrewed weapons systems it plans to field from August next year under its Replicator program to help offset China’s military advantage in personnel and manned equipment and deter a potential invasion of Taiwan.
Included in the second tranche of the initiative are several aerial systems — including drones, loitering munitions and prototypes — that are already either on contract with or under development for the U.S. military.
Among the systems are two from the U.S. Army’s company-level small unmanned aerial system program — Anduril Industries’ Ghost-X and Performance Drone Works’ C100.
These drones enable small army units to conduct multiple tasks with “rapidly reconfigurable, attritable, modular payload capabilities to execute reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition missions,” U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who is heading Replicator, said Wednesday in a statement.
Replicator 1.2 will also include Anduril’s Altius-600, a multimission loitering munition as part of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Organic Precision Fires program. This system will complement the AeroVironment Switchblade 600 loitering munition that was included in the first tranche of program and is also being used by the Ukrainian military in its effort to repel Russia’s invasion.
The latest tranche will also feature the Air Force’s Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV), which is currently at the prototype stage. It is being developed for the Air Force with requirements that include a range of over 500 nautical miles (926 kilometers) and a cruise speed of at least 100 knots (185 kilometers per hour).
"The ETV's modular design and open system architecture make it an ideal platform for program offices to test out new capabilities at the sub-system level, reducing risk, and demonstrating various options for weapon employment," Gen. Jim Slife, vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, was quoted as saying.
The Defense Department said Replicator 1.2 will also feature other systems, including low-cost, long-range strike capabilities and maritime uncrewed assets, but noted that these remain “classified.”
In the meantime, the Pentagon said it is stepping up efforts to acquire “integrated enablers,” or software from the commercial sector that will allow “hundreds or thousands of unmanned assets” to link up and work together autonomously while remaining “resilient in the face of jamming and other countermeasures.”
The statement marks just the second time Washington has provided specifics on what it’s buying for Replicator, which has secured funding of about $500 million for the 2024 fiscal year.
The initiative is part of a radical new strategy unveiled in August last year focused on fielding thousands of cheap, smart and autonomous attack drones across multiple domains to match China's rapidly growing air and naval power and make sure Washington has the edge in any potential conflict.
These attritable systems are far less expensive to make than large platforms, put fewer people in the line of fire and can be changed, updated or improved with substantially shorter lead times. They could also be used to protect high-value assets such as aircraft carriers or submarines.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Paparo has described the initiative as “a critical step” in delivering needed capabilities, noting that the Pentagon is planning to use these systems to thwart any Chinese invasion plans with a new strategy called “Hellscape.”
The idea, he told The Washington Post, is that as soon as China’s invasion fleet begins to move across the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. would deploy thousands of unmanned submarines, surface ships and aerial drones to flood the area, offset China’s military advantage and give Taiwanese, U.S. and partner forces — including possibly Japan — time to mount a full response.
In late September, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revealed that the next stage of Replicator will focus on the mass production and deployment of systems to detect, track and neutralize small drones as the Pentagon seeks to better protect the "most critical” U.S. installations and forces around the globe.
The defense chief noted that he expects the second iteration of the program to help overcome the challenges the Pentagon faces in areas such as production capacity, technology innovation and system integration.
Funding for Replicator 2 would need to be approved by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
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