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The Pentagon plans to acquire thousands of air- and sea-based drones over the next two years to offset the numerical superiority of Chinese forces.

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Dr. Kathleen Hicks, US Deputy Secretary of Defense (Photo: US DoD)

The Ukraine War demonstrates the operational value of unmanned systems. Whether Iranian Shahed UAVs on the Russian side or self-developed Ukrainian naval drones, they act as force multipliers and partially compensate (at least on the Ukrainian side) for the numerical imbalance. The Pentagon is learning lessons from this. The “Replicator Initiative” was announced on August 28th. “Several thousand” low-cost but powerful autonomous systems will be acquired within two years, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said at an NDIA (National Defense Industrial Association) conference in Washington.

In keeping with the high importance of the initiative, the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Vice Admiral James Grady, will personally oversee the program. In this context, the Pentagon emphasizes that Replicator represents only one element of a comprehensive innovation strategy that combines both new technology and new operational procedures with conventional ones

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