China has created a low-cost aircraft jet engine that could open the door for the creation of cutting-edge, cost-effective drones, laying the groundwork for future drone warfare techniques around the world.
A lead scientist on the project reported that a new generation of high-speed, long-lasting drones powered by inexpensive jet engines has entered military service in China, according to South China Morning Post( SCMP ).
According to SCMP, the novel Chinese drones are unique from other types due to the low cost of their power supply, and the technology may spark a drone hands culture as the US starts its program to increase the production of the weapon.
According to SCMP, the People’s Liberation Army( PLA) will be able to purchase high-performance jet aircraft vehicles for less than a fifth of the global cost thanks to the technological advancement. According to the review, the task was presented on October 19 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the occasion, engineering thermal physicist Zhu Junqiang asserted that the PLA has been quick to adopt the new engine, primarily because it uses nearly a third less energy than the existing two-shaft vehicles in use and because having 70 % fewer mechanical parts will result in significantly lower maintenance costs.
A high-speed military aircraft powered by a jet motor, in contrast, is typically regarded as an asset of great value, but most military armaments only stockpile them in small quantities due to high costs. For instance, the Northrop Grumman-built RQ – 4 Global Hawk helicopter is propelled by a great US$ 4 million per unit AE3007 turbofan engine from Rolls-Royce.
According to SCMP, 42 Global Hawks, each costing about$ 130 million, are now out of reach for the US, despite having a larger military expenditure than all other nations put together.
Coming conflicts will probably turn into satellite wars of attrition, with the Ukraine War serving as an example of the possibility of new-age warfare. Marc DeVore claims that the continuing conflict has demonstrated the benefits of lower costs and expendability in drone warfare in an article published in the peer-reviewed Defense and Security Analysis book in April 2023.
DeVore notes that during the first nine months of the war, Russia lost at least 148 washable drones and Ukraine 40, pointing out that professional factors, such as the vulnerability of aircraft information links, are to blame for the great helicopter losses. According to him, the weapons are susceptible to short-range air defenses because they fly at lower and moderate altitudes.
He points out that the use of drones for operations in heavily fortified areas by both Russia and Ukraine has prompted a move toward more affordable and disposable programs. For example, he points out that the Russian Forpost and Orion, as well as Ukraine’s Turkey-made Bayraktar TB – 2, are, both, their most advanced robots.
However, he claims that because of their vulnerability, they are less effective against jamming and low-altitude heat security assets. He claims that as a result, both nations have increasingly turned to very inexpensive or disposable robots because it is more expensive to shoot down these one-way assault weapons than they are worth.
The US has started programs to mass-produce drones for a high-tech war of attrition because it is aware of this field session.
The US Replicator system, which aims to field a sizable number of AI-driven automatic drones to combat China’s expanding military capabilities, was covered by Asia Times in September. With an intense 18 to 24 fortnight deployment timeline, the system aims to quickly improve the pitching of attritable automatic platforms in the air, land, and sea domains.
The project will be managed by the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, which will also collaborate with non-traditional technology firms and the security industry. Great networking capabilities, grid networks, and advances in artificial intelligence will enable intelligent, decentralized functioning and enable quicker deployment closer to the military edge.
Additionally, in February 2023, Asia Times published a report on the US” Autonomous Multi-Dotacle Adaptive Swarms – of-Swaths”( AMASS ) project, which aims to create self-sufficient drone hordes that can be launched from the sea, the air, and the land to overpower enemy air defenses.
The goal of the project is to improve the ability to launch and control tens of thousands of autonomous drones, which will be used in concert to destroy an enemy’s defenses such as missile launchers, artillery pieces, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance( ISR ) platforms.
The AMASS system is anticipated to concentrate primarily on stopping or defeating a Taiwanese conquest of Taiwan. In highly contested environments, the system investigates using” swarm-of-shwarms” to carry out military operations with inexpensive drones equipped with a variety of sensors and dynamic and non-kinetic cells.
However, the US still has a lot of trouble increasing its low-cost helicopter production. According to a CNBC statement from last month, the cost of making smaller consumer drones like helicopters in the US increases because work and material costs are higher than in China.
According to CNBC, several American drone companies left the market in 2016 and 2017 as a result of China’s out-of-competition or poor business decisions. It also mentions how difficult it is to create robots using only US-sourced components because the US lacks the companies necessary to produce such large-scale, reusable military aircraft. According to the report, it also lacks the safe supply chains required to produce delicate parts.
China, on the other hand, is in a better position to increase low-cost aircraft creation. The DJI company, based in Shenzhen, now controls 70 % of the global consumer drone market and is the world’s largest exporter of military defense robots.
China’s Sunflower 200 lounging weapons, which is allegedly modeled after the Iranian Shahed – 136, a tool Russia is using in the ongoing Ukraine war but has significantly modified to fit the local battlefield conditions, was covered by Asia Times in September. The helicopter was displayed in Moscow during the Army – 2023 protection show.
Despite having the ability to mass-produce the Sunflower 200 and improved versions for Russia, China has adopted a optimistic stance in its support of Moscow’s war work, balancing its interests to maintain an outcome that is in their best interests while avoiding American sanctions.
Although it is unlikely that the Sunflower – 200 may soon join Russia’s army, China has sent dual-use drones to the country because it knows they will be used for military operations.