Fearing China Navy power, US militarizing Western Pacific remotely

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Wall Street Journal
21 Sep 2023 18:16

The US deploys two drone ships to test surveillance and assault capabilities the Navy may find valuable against China's bigger fleet.

Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Stout handle mooring lines during the ship's return to home port at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. (AP)

According to The Wall Street Journal, two US drone ships have landed in Japan for deployment in the Western Pacific, where they are attempting to test surveillance and assault capabilities in the face of China's larger fleet.

According to US Navy Cmdr. Jeremiah Daley, the unmanned surface vessels are a "force multiplier", since they could substitute larger vessels like destroyers. "For example, one destroyer and two USVs could replace three destroyers," he explained.

Daley spoke on the autonomous surface vessel Ranger, a 190-foot-long ship, docked in the port of Yokosuka, near Tokyo, home to the US Seventh Fleet.

While the Ranger cannot currently carry missiles, missile modules put onto its flatbed back part may carry and fire missiles.

China's shipbuilding capacity surpasses the US by 232 times

China has recently outnumbered and surpassed the US Navy in ship numbers and in drills in the Pacific.

Taipei authorities on Sunday said China deployed 28 warplanes around Taiwan. China was engaged in activities like extensive exercises and training, and they are closely monitoring the situation using patrol aircraft and ships, according to the Ministry.

Leaked US Navy intelligence indicated that China's shipbuilding capacity surpasses that of the US by a staggering 232 times, Insider reported.

This information came to light through a leaked US Navy briefing slide that circulated online in July. The slide, titled PLAN vs. USN Naval Force Laydown, appeared to be labeled as "unclassified".

As per the data presented in the slide, Chinese shipyards boast a capacity exceeding 23.2 million tons, a stark contrast to the US capacity, which is less than 100,000 tons.

The Pentagon announced earlier this month that it would spend 2 years working on AI-powered technologies like drones and autonomous systems.

Ranger and five other unmanned American ships are part of the Ghost Fleet Overlord project, which began in 2018 with the goal of integrating autonomous operations into the Navy. Proponents of the program argue that such ships might operate relatively cheaply inside enemy firing range, allowing manned ships to remain further away.

The US has previously deployed small surveillance drone boats in the Middle East as part of Task Force 59, in collaboration with nations such as Saudi Arabia and "Israel", to monitor Iran's fleet.

Task Force 59 was established in Bahrain in September of 2021, where the Fifth Fleet of the US Navy is based, and its mission is to merge AI technologies with unmanned systems into American operations in the region.