How is there a plan to take America on China? By creating a drone fleet inspired by Ukraine – but how well it is going?
Pentagon is placing heavy bets on the autonomous sea drone to combat China’s growing naval power in Pacific. Inspired by the successful use of Ukraine’s cheap, Kamikes-style C drones against Russia’s black C fleet, US defense planners imagined a herd of high-tech, AI-operated ships patrolled Taiwan Strait and stopped a Chinese advance. But a string of recent accidents suggests how much the learning state can stand.
Sea failure
Last month, during a high-profile US Naval Test, away from the California coast, an autonomous boat suddenly stalled due to a software mess, the Reuters said. Before the operators could respond, another drone vessel was stuck in it, vaulted on its deck, and crashed back into the water, the report stated in the report. Wests manufactured by rival defense tech firms saronic and Blacksi Technologies are part of the Navy’s ambitious push to put an autonomous fleet in the fleet. But it was not a different failure. A few weeks ago, another blacksi vessel was unexpectedly intensified, while a support boat was capted and thrown to its Captain overboard. Both events occurred due to a mixture of software breakdown and human error, according to people familiar with the program cited by Reuters.
Billions of stakes
The Navy is investing heavily in these systems. Blackse has received at least $ 160 million commitments and is now producing dozens of drone boats every month. Cyronic, a silicon valley startup recently priced at $ 4 billion, has attracted major enterprise backing and pantagon prototype deals. Efforts are part of $ 1 billion Replicator In 2023, the program was started to acquire thousands of drones, aerial and maritime throughout the army. US President Donald Trump has doubled, with his latest defense bill, especially allocated $ 5 billion for autonomous naval systems. The Pentagon hopes that unlike Ukraine’s cheap, remote-controlled drones, the US fleet of completely autonomous ships, each cost of each million, can work without direct human commands, scouts, jam and strike goals together for goals.
Can the Navy be favorable?
Experts quoted by Reuters say that these early stumps should be expected. Bryan Clarke of Hudson Institute stated that the Navy would “need to customize the strategy because it better understands what the system can do and what they cannot do.” But the time is short. China is rapidly expanding its naval forces compared to the US, and Beijing has already demonstrated its autonomous drones and submarine technologies. For Washington, the race to field a reliable drone fleet is not just about innovation, it is about preventive. For now, the US plan to beat China in C is on drones, which still crashes to each other, sometimes in the least testing.
