The South China Sea's Gathering Storm

[etudiant]

Originally Posted by Lyneham Lad

Heading back to the South China Sea (article in The Times):-

China’s underwater robots can attack enemy vessels without human guidance
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Sounds just like the US Navy Captor, a mine built using an encapsulated torpedo. Add a little processing power and swarm attacks are plausible. Only issue is the range of the torpedo, 10-20 miles is not enough other than for choke points.

Longer term, we should remember that the Chinese kicked the Dutch out of Taiwan in the 1600s, a period of relative Dutch military preeminence. Indeed, a Dutch fleet bombarded London in that era.
Yet the Dutch commander in Taiwan admitted that they were just outclassed by the Chinese, who were using tactics they had never seen before.
Right now China is rapidly widening its lead in the global production of unmanned vehicles and the relevant command and control systems. Their use of thousands of civilian drones to act as a free flying display for national celebrations is also a public indication of their control capabilities. Not an easy problem to solve for a defender and it will get worse. It may be that Taiwan will again be a place where China shows its military to be second to none.