🚨🌏🚨🌏What is China’s greatest asymmetric naval threat? It’s not logistics. It’s not cyber. It’s not even ballistic missiles 🤔 ⚔️ Chinese UUVs and USVs are the asymmetric threat nobody is talking about. I’ve built drones in Ukraine, tracked Chinese programs from US Intelligence, and now I’m building USVs for blue forces. Full essay, with charts, linked in first comment. ⤵️ And I’m worried. 👀 1️⃣ Chinese supply chains and factories are perfectly positioned to build USVs (unmanned surface vessels) and UUVs (unmanned undersea vessels). 2️⃣ China’s automotive, shipbuilding, and drone industries are all #1 globally —> perfect proxies for their ability to build USVs and UUVs. 3️⃣ A single USV producer on Alibaba can already outproduce the DoD’s entire Replicator offering 4️⃣ These unmanned maritime vessels have the perfect range to launch from PLA ports near Taiwan, and prevent any US counter-intervention. 5️⃣ Ukraine has delivered remarkable damage to the Russian Navy with a minuscule UxV production capacity, compared to China’s 6️⃣ Black Sea combat data shows that US forces probably can’t get within 400-600 nautical miles of China, because of USVs and UUVs Together, these takeaways mean that the People’s Liberation Army can conduct a reverse Hellscape, one far more dangerous than ours. Check out my full piece Red’s Hellscape: Far More Dangerous than Blue’s in the first comment below. ⤵️ 🙏🏼Thanks to HI Sutton of Covert Shores for incredible primary source research on Chinese maritime drones and especially to the Ukrainian, American, and other European entrepreneurs & officers building USVs & UUVs for the good guys. Nelson Ian Estaphan Sam Jerry Bill Timothy Paul Joe Andrew Dino Rob Richard Mike Tom Kevin Steve Josh David Dorothy Jeffrey Matthew David Mike Artem Scot Jon Daniel Kevin T.S. Evan David Daniel Brett Ryan Eric Jerry Shaun Timothy #defensetech #defensetechnology #usv #uuv #uxv #maritimeautonomy #drones #attritable #china #ukraine #replicator #hellscape
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You don’t have to worry. We’ve got this.
Great piece—I like how you flipped the map on this. I would offer that for the PLAN to conduct a successful cross-strait invasion and prevent external intervention, achieving sea control is paramount. By contrast, U.S. forces only need to achieve a degree of sea denial and sufficiently attrite the landing force. This asymmetry in objectives suggests that the U.S. may not need to outproduce China in autonomous systems to achieve its aims. That said, your core argument about China’s industrial advantage is compelling and underscores the urgency of addressing our own production and innovation challenges.
Without food and fuel from attenuated supply lines, the PRC can't maintain an economy much less a military operation against a peer opponent for very long. No inputs, no outputs. Plus, this doesn't account for general incompetence and corruption within the PLA and PLAN. What you mention is a legitimate concern no doubt, but the PRC is vulnerable since it relies on imports to operate a modern economy.
As for the industrial capacity of China (and Russia too), that technological shift was built up after the deliberate "fake" fall of the Soviet Union (admitted by Putin himself in the Carlson interview - that nobody has picked upon). The empire never actually fell and if you read KGB Defector Anatoliy Golitsyn's "New Lies for Old" and the "The Perestroika Deception", you will realise that both him and JJ Angleton were spot on with their analysis: "the Sino-Soviet split was a charade to deceive the West". However, they both got discredited and ridiculed even today by people in the intel community, including by the retired ones at the Spy Museum in DC that you would think have more brains. They might know how to run agents and perform a seamless brush pass, but most are clueless about Soviet grand strategy, ideological subversion, brain washing, propaganda and mind control to the extent of the smokes and mirrors that it has been going on since the 1960s. Frankly speaking, we don't have much time left. We are now only a few seconds before midnight... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoliy_Golitsyn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jesus_Angleton
🤝 time to build
Love the visual way to represent this threat!
This will also lead to the proliferation of smaller yield tactical nuclear weapons that will be required to generate the needed EMP to knock these drone swarms out. (Personally I never believed in the theory of MAD - it’s always been a Soviet propaganda to slow down Western advances in this field. They don’t believe in it either I can guarantee you that) And couple that with the Deagel Report’s prediction for 2025. It’s an interesting time to be alive, that’s for sure. 😅
Defense Tech Founder | MIT & Harvard | US Navy Intel
1dFull piece: https://open.substack.com/pub/austinegray/p/reds-hellscape-far-more-dangerous?r=16k5a7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true