Chinese coastguard proposes turning South China Sea isles into robotic fortress

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The Chinese coastguard proposed transforming South China Sea islands into robotic fortresses using autonomous machines to defend maritime territory. This military innovation aims to counter drone swarm threats in the contested region.

The South China Sea’s contested islands could be transformed into autonomous, robotic fortresses, according to a defence proposal by the Chinese coastguard. The plan, which was detailed in a Chinese-language journal supervised by the state-run China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, envisions a maritime landscape defended by a coordinated swarm of machines instead of soldiers. The proposal comes as Beijing seeks to neutralise the growing threat of low-cost drone swarms – the asymmetric weapon...