If China Invades, The Taiwan Strait Will Become An “Unmanned Hellscape”, Says Admiral

(NationalUSNews.com) — With concerns about a potential China-led invasion of Taiwan, a top United States admiral has announced that the United States is ready to help Taiwan protect itself from hostile nations.

According to Admiral Samuel Paparo, who oversees the US Indo-Pacific Command, the United States will assist Taiwan by providing a nearly endless supply of drones and other weaponry to halt an invasion of the island nation. Paparo specifically cited drones as the primary method of deterring an invasion from China and said that if China invades, the United States will turn the Taiwan Strait into an “unmanned hellscape.”

Paparo’s comments are likely a response to China’s increased activity in the Taiwan region, as China has performed several large-scale military drills in Taiwanese territory. Chinese officials have also renewed their promise to take Taiwan and re-assimilate into China, despite United States officials warning China that if it invades Taiwan, it will face dire consequences. The United States serves as one of Taiwan’s most powerful allies in the region and has repeatedly promised to defend the island nation from a Chinese invasion.

Paparo confirmed that if China invaded Taiwan, he’d oversee the United States’s response to the conflict. Paparo said that he wants to help Taiwan defend itself from an invasion through various “classified” means and that the United States would happily supply drones to halt an ongoing conflict in the region. According to Paparo, one of the benefits of drone defense is the effect on enemy troops, who’d remain preoccupied with drone strikes while Taiwan prepares a counter-offensive alongside the United States.

The drone defense strategy would rely primarily on cheaply manufactured drones, which would strike against invading Chinese forces the moment they entered the Taiwan Strait. The United States Department of Defense has confirmed its plans to help Taiwan use the drone strategy, which would include using thousands of unmanned drones to prolong an attack while the military prepares a counterattack. The plan is known as the Replicator Initiative and could cost the United States approximately one billion dollars annually.