The Navy and Marines are fielding advanced unmanned weapons in preparation for a potential future conflict with China that key service leaders told Congress on Tuesday poses a major threat to U.S. and allied security.
Navy Secretary John C. Phelan warned in Senate testimony that China presents a growing threat to the U.S. and its allies in a current maritime environment he called “increasingly hostile, volatile and unpredictable.”
“Our adversaries are not waiting. China is building a navy to challenge American dominance,” he told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Navy.
“The Chinese Communist Party continues to expand its fleet, build more advanced submarines, and operate more provocatively and aggressively in contested waters. If we fail to respond with urgency and resolve, we invite instability and risk ceding the seas to authoritarian influence,” Mr. Phelan said.
The secretary called on Congress to meet the challenge, and criticized what he said were years of bureaucratic inertia, overseas combat commitments, misplaced priorities and limited defense spending that is putting American maritime superiority at risk.
“The bill has now come due,” he said. “We cannot deter authoritarian regimes with red tape.”
In the Indo-Pacific region, the CCP is pursuing rapid and worrying growth, especially in naval warfare capabilities.
Chinese nuclear forces also are expanding with Beijing deploying an estimated 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030 — with a major portion on ballistic missile submarines, Mr. Phelan said.
China’s navy also is soon to have 400 warships in its fleet in what Mr. Phelan called a dramatic expansion.
Chinese expansion in the South China Sea also poses a direct threat to freedom of navigation and undermines international law and the rights of key U.S. allies like the Philippines.
“We must take decisive action to deter the CCP’s assertiveness and uphold peace through strength, ensuring the United States remains preeminent and fully prepared to defend its interests in every domain,” Mr. Phelan said.
On unmanned weapons, Mr. Phelan said years of conflict have taught the U.S. that wars of the future cannot be won using weapons of the past.
“Success in modern warfare will require the rapid, scalable production and integration of air, surface and subsurface unmanned systems,” he said, noting the use of unmanned weapons in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Drones are not replacing manned systems but act as force multipliers to increase both intelligence gathering and lethal attack capabilities at lower costs and reduced risks.
A drone refueling tanker, the MQ-25, is scheduled for deployment next year and will help fighters with strikes.
Marines, too, are deploying small, inexpensive drones for reconnaissance, target acquisition, battle damage assessment and improved strategic planning.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith testified that China is the most significant military threat to the U.S. and that the 33,000 Marines deployed in the Indo-Pacific are the military’s “expeditionary shock troops.”
“The Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive military modernization, coercive economic practices and actions in the South China Sea directly threaten the principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Gen. Smith said.
Marine Corps forces in the region are playing a key role in deterring Chinese aggression, protecting sea lanes and safeguarding U.S. interests.
Gen. Smith said the deployment of drone weapons is a priority for the Marine Corps.
Cutting-edge technology being integrated into the Corps includes autonomous weapons, including both long-range intelligence systems and attack drones.
“These capabilities provide our commanders with enhanced situational awareness and precision strike options while enabling stand-in-forces to impose dilemmas on the adversary at scale and at speed,” he said.
Key systems include the MQ-9A surveillance drone, lethal attack drones and the XQ-58 Valkyrie drone combat aircraft that flies together with F-35s.
“These investments ensure that Marines can operate effectively in contested spaces, while reducing risk to personnel and increasing the speed and accuracy of decision making,” Gen. Smith said.
Navy drones include both surface systems and underwater vehicles.
“Our ability to deter future conflict or to prevail, if necessary, will benefit from high quantities of low-cost [unmanned systems] for use in close-range reconnaissance or one-way strike missions with lower numbers of high-cost sophisticated [drones] with surveillance and/or mid- to long-range strike capability,” Mr. Phelan said.
A variety of new drones are being integrated into the fleets, he noted.
The Navy is also working on countermeasures against enemy drones using low-cost, high-quantity platforms.
“And we’re not naïve — our adversaries are doing the same. That is why counter-unmanned systems capabilities must evolve just as quickly. We either lead the next wave of innovation — or pay the price of others doing it first.
Adm. James W. Kilby, the acting chief of naval operations, said deterring war with China and defeating its forces if necessary are driving Navy forces
“Over the last 20 years, China has undergone an unprecedented military buildup, modernizing capabilities and improving proficiencies across all warfare domains,” Adm. Kilby said.
“The evolving joint capabilities and concepts of the People’s Liberation Army continue to strengthen China’s ability to revolutionize its maritime capability to rival and contest our own.”
China tripled its navy in a short period of time and is on track to deploy 435 warships by 2030, he said.
“China continues to aggressively use its naval forces against its neighbors to assert illegal territorial claims in the South China Sea.
He warned that China’s invasion rehearsals near Taiwan and joint exercises with Russia near Alaska are part of a “pattern of belligerent and threatening behavior to U.S. and allied interests in the Indo-Pacific.”
On the Navy’s use of robotic and autonomous weapons, the four-star admiral said the service is taking advantage of advances in technology to rapidly deliver systems to warfighters.
“We are focused on prototyping, experimenting and integrating robotic and autonomous systems into the fleet,” he said.
Last year, the Navy delivered the first 24 small, unmanned surface vessels to Navy squadrons.
Another new system, the USX-1 Defiant, was completed in February and is currently undergoing commissioning trials.
The USX-1 is a 180-foot-long fully autonomous, unmanned combat vessel capable of operating independently at sea for long periods.
Another new weapon is the Navy’s first extra-large unmanned undersea vehicle that is in the testing phase, Adm. Kilby said.
“We continue to develop and demonstrate long-duration, long-range, payload-capable unmanned underwater vehicles ready for persistent operations in dynamic maritime environments for undersea, subsea, and seabed warfare,” he said.
