China’s UAV Expansion

Washington Free Beacon’s Bill Gertz has a startling piece today on China’s expansion of its unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities.

From the piece:

New unarmed drone deployments include the recent stationing of reconnaissance and ocean surveillance drones in Northeast Asia near Japan and the Senkaku islands and along China’s southern coast. Drones also are planned for the South China Sea where China has been encroaching on international waters and bullying nations of that region in asserting control over international waters, said officials familiar with intelligence reports…

Of particular concern to U.S. intelligence agencies are two new missile-equipped drones known as the CH-4 and Yi Long. The aircraft were shown off along with six other military drones at a major Chinese arms show last November in Zhuhai.

China is not keeping its growing expertise in this area to itself:

According to [Richard] Fisher [with the International Assessment and Strategy Center], China is also exporting two of its armed drones, the Yi Long and CH-3, to the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.

The UAE government purchased the Yi Long, and a smaller CH-3 was sold to Pakistan and repackaged by Islamabad as the Shahpar.

Fisher said he is concerned China will sell the new and larger CH-4 to Iran.

Clearly, proliferation of UAV technology needs to be watched closely, with our defense strategies adjusting accordingly.

In addressing UAV proliferation, however, one path we should avoid is that of seeking codification of international rules to govern UAVs, which will likely have the effect of inhibiting our own self-defense while doing little to affect the behavior of countries like China.  I expanded on this issue a bit in yesterday’s American Spectator.