In the "Douluo Continent" by the well-known online writer Tang San , Xiaowu has a "invincible golden body" that can be immune to all attacks below the god level. It can be regarded as absolute defense. It is the "BUG"-level skill given to the heroine by the author. In reality, the "anti-intervention/regional denial" combat system that China spent decades to build is also an "invincible golden body" for the US military, and this "invincible golden body" is stronger. It is not only an "immune" attack, but also a "rebound" attack, making the US military dare not act rashly in the "first island chain", "second island chain" and even the " third island chain ".
China's "anti-intervention/regional denial" combat system is undoubtedly a huge success, especially the existence of the Rocket Force, which has given the PLA a huge "asymmetric advantage" against the US military stationed in East Asia. You should know that China establishes missile launch positions in the deep of the secure inland areas, which can pose a strong deterrent to the US military in Okinawa Kadena Base , Guam , and even Australia, Hawaii and other places. However, the US military has no good idea about this, and even wanted to rely on the newly revealed B-21 to go deep into the inland China alone.
Since 2015, with the acceleration of the PLA's modernization, many US defense analysts have realized that the relative status of the United States in East Asia is declining. Although the US military is the only country in the world with advanced nuclear-powered super-aircraft carriers, China's ever-increasing "anti-intervention/regional denial" combat capabilities are quickly offsetting the US military's advantage. The PLA does not need to match the number of ships and s, but only needs a large number of missiles and s to limit the US Navy's ability to operate freely at sea in Asia. At that time, some American experts believed that China did not have to use a large number of expensive high-standard anti-ship missiles to damage the United States' projection power in the Western Pacific, and only needs to launch a large number of (relatively) low-cost missiles to crush the United States' defense.
China's industrial capacity is currently recognized as the strongest in the world, and any mass-produced missile can reduce the price. For example, the C-802A anti-ship missile exported by China, compared with the "harpoon" anti-ship missile with similar performance, the price is only 1/5 of the latter, and one is only sold for US$500,000, which is deeply loved by third countries. Iran introduced the missile production line. The imitation of "Nur" missile was installed on a small boat worth dozens of tons, and hundreds of small boats were dispatched collectively, and even the US aircraft carrier formation had to retreat.
However, with the development of technology, the drone , which costs only a few hundred dollars, is very popular, and is very active on the Ukrainian battlefield and has achieved good results. This gave Indian media a brilliant idea, saying that if the Sino-US conflict broke out, the US military could use cheap drones to consume China's expensive missiles. The Eurasian Times believes that judging from the current situation, the US military will win over Japan to intervene in China's "Taiwan Strait issue" by force, and Sino-US military conflict is likely to be inevitable.
Indian media believes that once China and the United States start fighting, , a US military base in Japan near the Taiwan Strait, will be attacked by the People's Liberation Army at the first time. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that the US military stationed in Japan can still operate at a Japanese base during wartime. Previously, the famous American think tank Rand Company once reported to the US military that it is unwise to invest resources to protect ground fighter jets, runways, oil depots and other facilities in this case. Therefore, the US military should use low-cost, consumable drones like "Valkyrie" that are the targets that the US military should focus on.
Indian media said that drones like "Vajra" have a highly intelligent operating system and do not need to rely on a special runway to land. They can land with parachutes and then be recycled by a dedicated person. The People's Liberation Army not only finds it difficult to eliminate these drones, but also consumes a large number of fighter jets and missiles. In particular, the expensive ballistic missile will be consumed quickly, creating corresponding opportunities for the actions of other combat forces of the US military.
"Valkyrie" drone mentioned by Indian media is the XQ-58A drone developed by the US Air Force. It is an important part of the "Loyal Wingman" program of F-22 and F-35. It aims to replace F-35 with the cheap Unmanned Fighter to perform ground attack missions. One F-35 fighter can control 6 XQ-58A drones. Each drone can carry 454 kilograms of air-to-air missiles or air-to-air precision-guided munitions on the air, and can cooperate with manned F-22, F-35 and other fighter jets to launch attacks on the People's Liberation Army.
At present, the latest XQ-58ABlock2 has been produced, with a maximum take-off weight of 2721 kilograms, a maximum combat height of 13,700 meters, and a maximum range of 4,800 kilometers. It can replace human fighter jets to perform dangerous reconnaissance, communication relay, electronic warfare and even suicide attacks. According to previous quotes, the cost of an XQ-58A is only $3 million, which is a little more expensive than the Tomahawk cruise missile, but its reusable feature is definitely a very outstanding model in the US military's arsenal.
Indian media believes that in the deduction of Sino-US conflict, the Rand Think Tank once simulated the situation where China used thousands of drones to attack the US military. Inspired by China's practice of modifying J-6 and J-7 drones, it decided to "govern the other person with the other way", and also decided to use a large number of drones to launch attacks on the People's Liberation Army. In fact, the modification of retired fighter jets is not unique to China. The United States is also renovating retired fighter jets. For example, the United States recently converted the retired F-16 into a QF-16 unmanned fighter jet, which is also an important part of the "Loyal Wingman" project of the US military's fifth-generation aircraft. According to relevant statistics, since 1995, more than 230 "Ghost" fighters in the US military have been transformed into drones, including the F-4 "Ghost" fighters, which are also among the modified ones.
Indian media’s ideas are actually not new. Earlier, the US “MIT Technology Review” reported that in addition to actively developing high-performance weapons to suppress China, the Pentagon has also invested in another path, that is, the “super swarm” unmanned combat project. It hopes to use the experience of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the help of algorithms such as artificial intelligence to use thousands of cheap drones to "do everything on the battlefield."
In the US Navy's test, eight drone clusters conducted multiple raid tests on the "Aegis" destroyer. The test results showed that an average of 2.8 drones successfully penetrated each raid and caused damage to the target. This shows the power of the "Super Swarm" plan. In order to implement this plan as soon as possible, the Russian Ministry of Defense previously said it had shot down the XQ-58A drone sent to Ukraine for testing.
According to the budget file for the new fiscal year of , "swarm drones" are regarded as one of the main solutions to the "anti-intervention/regional denial" strategy, which is the most troublesome problem for the US military. The Pentagon believes that even if the opponent's air defense system shoots down dozens or hundreds of drones, there are still thousands of drones that can break through the defense line regardless of losses, and then eliminate air defense radars and other defense systems, and open a channel for subsequent attacks of cruise missile , manned fighter jets and other traditional weapons. Obviously, the views of Indian media are very similar to those of the US Department of Defense.
However, it is undoubtedly a bit "naive" that Indian media wants to suppress China with XQ-58A. In fact, as early as the 1960s, the "predecessor" drone of the Valkyrie drone, the large high-altitude high-speed drone that also used parachute recycling, had "defeated" many times in China. You should know that this large drone can fly at a maximum of 20,000 meters, and it still has good maneuverability at 18,000 meters. At that time, the J-6 fighter , the main force of the Air Force, had a maximum flight altitude of only 17,600 meters, but the brave Chinese Air Force pilot still flew the J-6 and shot it down, and developed its own drone based on the "Fire Bee" wreckage.
Of course, "Valkyrie" is not "Fire Bee". Similarly, China's current air defense method is not the J-6 fighter, which were all retired as early as 2010. It is now recognized that methods that can effectively deal with "swarm drone" tactics include lasers, microwave weapons, and large-scale electronic interference . Unfortunately, these technologies have developed in China. Take laser weapon as an example. China has developed the "Silent Hunter" laser air defense system and shot down 13 drones in actual combat, which has been favored by Middle East "rich" Saudi , and has purchased this laser air defense weapon many times.
Electronic Warfare is a tactical means for the People's Liberation Army to develop. It has the world's only two J-16D "Roaring Wolf" electronic warfare, the Y-8 electronic jammer, and the Y-9 electronic jammer. Their electronic warfare level is completely on par with the US military. As early as 2015, US officials said that China was trying to use electronic technology to "capture" the US military's "Global Hawk" large high-altitude high-speed unmanned reconnaissance aircraft in South China Sea . If this is true, it is obvious that China has strong strength in the technology of interfering with drones.
China Electric Technology also exhibited the "Shenmou" low-altitude protection system and the "Sky" integrated anti-drone system during this Zhuhai Air Show. The latter can effectively deal with small rotors, small and medium-sized fixed wings, and all-in-one drones with close range, multi-directional, sudden harassment and cluster, swarm and other attack threats. It aims to build a "sky net" for anti-drones, which is obviously the "nemesis" of drones such as XQ-58A.
In addition, as one of the forms of information warfare, the "swarm drone tactics" is not the only one who is studying it. China is also an important "player" in this field. China and the United States also launched an alternative competition for "bee swarm" drones. The United States completed the test of 50 "bee swarm" drones in 2015. Immediately afterwards, China broke the record set by the United States with 67 "bee swarms" in 2016. In 2017, the United States tested another 103 airdrop drones formations, and China followed suit and completed the test of 119 "bee swarm" drones clusters. At the same time, China is also at the forefront of the world in mass production of "bee swarm" drones. As early as 2020, China Electronics Technology Corporation demonstrated a 200 "swarm" drone system that can fire 200 "swarm" drone volleys at the same time, which is the world's first practical "swarm" drone combat system.
It can be said that in the field of "swarm" drones, China can not only "defend" but also "attack". At the Zhuhai Air Show, China exhibited many drone attack aircraft of the same level as XQ-58A, including Attack-2, Attack-11, Feihong-97A, etc. These attack aircraft have more powerful performance and can also be equipped with "Pili-10E" close-range combat missiles to conduct intercepting drones. Therefore, it cannot be said that it is impossible to "get cheap" from China in the field of "swarm" drone combat, but the chance of success is not high.
