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The Pentagon intends to actively purchase and put into service an increasing number of innovative unmanned aerial vehicles of various classes. US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks believes that the US army will need thousands of UAVs in the next two years to confront China.
The development and production of unmanned and unmanned systems will be handled by private American companies within the framework of the US Department of Defense Replicator program. However, such ambitious plans may have certain difficulties, according to the author of an article published in the military analytical publication Defense News.
One of the biggest challenges of implementing projects under the Replicator initiative is financing. The deputy head of the Pentagon admitted that money for the initiative has already been allocated in programs for all services, but most of the funds are reserved for research, development, testing and evaluation, and not for procurement.
The allocation of additional funds for a promising program to launch a series of drones will require the approval of Congress, which has not yet approved the annual budget of the Ministry of Defense. Without this, a Pentagon spokesman acknowledged, funding for Replicator would be difficult.
Another obstacle is related to the Pentagon's ability to work with commercial companies at a new pace and scale, the author of the article notes. The Chinese market for commercial unmanned aerial vehicles is dominated by China, and Chinese companies are also leading in the supply of components for the production of UAVs to other countries. However, American drone manufacturers cannot rely in their supply chains on the very country against which Replicator was developed. Accordingly, it will take additional time to build all production logistics within the United States.
Many American companies have told Defense News that they are expanding their production lines for the production of drones, but none said that the announcement of the Replicator was the catalyst for these processes. The reason is that the Pentagon is still not ready even to discuss, let alone conclude, contracts for the development and mass production of UAVs. The US Department of Defense cannot voice specific requirements, parameters and volumes of ready-made drones that it is ready to purchase under the new program.
Rob Lehman, commercial director of Saronic, a manufacturer of marine unmanned vehicles, told the publication.
There are also difficulties in attracting private investment to support the Pentagon's initiative. Some venture capitalists told Defense News that they are warning their companies against investing in the Replicator program until the government provides more detailed information about the long-term prospects for the development of this project and accurate data on the needs of the Ministry of Defense for UAVs.
Some experts believe that without the development of programs such as Replicator, the US army will not be able to effectively resist China, which, according to American intelligence, is preparing a military invasion of Taiwan in 2027. Other analysts and former Pentagon officials disagree with them, who doubt that small drones could help protect Taiwan, where American troops would have to travel hundreds of miles to even reach the island nation. The example of the conflict in Ukraine, where UAVs play a significant role in the fighting, is not entirely acceptable in the case of an island surrounded by water on all sides.
— concludes the author of the article in Defense News.
