These jet-drones are meant to be the first barrage of attacks on the island nation to degrade their missile defence systems and pave the way for a less risky air campaign that would follow.
China has long been the world’s workshop of cheap goods and champion of retrofitting and reverse engineering high-end military equipment, but this time it has done one better—it has converted its obsolete J-6 fighter jets into drones, or rather cruise missiles. These jets flew with the Chinese Air Force first in the 1960s.
According to a report by the Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies (MIAS), China has stationed some 200 such jet-converted-cruise missiles at six airfields close to Taiwan. These jet-drones are meant to be the first barrage of attacks on the island nation to degrade their missile defence systems and pave the way for a less risky air campaign that would follow.
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The report used satellite imagery to locate these jet-drones at five air bases in the Fujian province and one in Guangdong province.
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The report has been compiled, said a Reuters report, from open source data by Dahm, an American ex-naval intelligence officer “They will attack Taiwan, U.S. or allied targets in large numbers, effectively overwhelming air defenses,” Reuters quoted Dahm.
Reuters quoted a Taiwanese security official as saying that the Chinese plan to “exhaust Taiwan’s air defence systems in the first wave of an attack”, adding that Taiwan has prepared itself for any eventuality, and to prevent Beijing from striking “high value targets”, Taiwan would be faced with using costly missiles to intercept them.
According to the Reuters report, Taiwan’s defence ministry had presented a plan in parliament outlining its plans to rapidly acquire state-of-the-art counter drone systems.
Taiwanese think-tank Institute for National Defence and Security Research had warned back in 2022 abut such drones as parts of Chinese “asymmetric warfare that cannot be ignored”.
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