China Eyes Drone Blockade of Taiwan Amid US ‘Hellscape’ Strategy

The Chinese military has asserted that it can enforce and sustain a blockade on an island using only drones, as detailed in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese academic journal Command Control & Simulation last month.

Chen Huijie, an engineer with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) unit 92116 and the lead researcher, conducted a simulation on an unnamed island with a narrow shape resembling Taiwan’s terrain.

The mission aimed to establish a blockade and control the island, which was heavily fortified with air defense missile launchers, while hostile warships and submarines patrolled the surrounding waters.

The PLA employed four types of drones for the blockade. The first group, consisting of large and medium-sized drones with reconnaissance and attack capabilities, was launched from mainland Chinese military bases. Their task was to operate in all weather conditions, detect and identify mobile threats, and eliminate them.

The second group included small composite-wing reconnaissance drones and anti-radiation patrol drones deployed by PLA naval vessels. Their role was to conduct close observation of concealed targets and eliminate enemy radars.

Highlighting the advantages of using drones, Chen’s team wrote, “Unmanned equipment offers benefits such as expendability, low cost, and minimal casualties. Integrating unmanned clusters into a systematic war is expected to accelerate the reconnaissance, identification, decision-making, and attack cycles, thereby enhancing overall combat efficiency.”

The report further noted that once the “scale and diversity of drone formations” reached a certain level, the military could effectively control the island and its surrounding waters by suppressing the island’s armed forces while simultaneously preventing external aid.

The publication of this paper comes after the US military revealed its strategy last month for using swarms of drones in the Taiwan Strait in the event of a potential conflict. The strategy, dubbed “Hellscape,” aims to prevent PLA troops from landing on Taiwanese soil without putting US soldiers on the front line.

“I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape,” Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, told The Washington Post in an interview published on June 10.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and, under its top leader Xi Jinping, has not ruled out the use of force to bring the self-ruled democratic island under its control.