US drones migrating to China

[SpArK]

US drones migrating to China​

The Long War journal, a site run by current and past CIA officials discussing the drone strikes in Pakistan–says “The Predator program likely has peaked in its utility. Each strike now generates an enormous amount of negative publicity while further inflaming Pakistani actors.”

“The Long War” folks seem to have realized what the US is not accepting, at least publicly–the era of the drones in Pakistan is over. Its getting too hot from the drones in the Hindu Kush. As the drones migrate out of Pakistan, the birds are making their way to Libya and to the Chinese break away province of Taiwan. The drones would most likely be stationed in South Korea, and Okinawa Japan. Data gathered by the drones can be transmitted almost instantly to bases on the ground, while they could also fire deadly accurate missiles in emergency situations.

The Pentagon will be moving many of the armed drones (Predators and Reapers) to its Pacific Command force from where they will be used in part to support spy on China. The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) would monitor China’s military buildup and North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. ”The drones would become available in the coming months as the US draws down forces from theaters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.”

William Lowther has written an article on the plans more drones for Pacific. The article in the Washington Times describe the DoD plans. The Pentagon has budgeted US5 Billion for a total worldwide force of 33 Predators and 32 Reapers — using support staff of about 12,000. Each Predator costs about US$5 million and the Reaper is about US$10.5 million. The Predators and Reapers, which can stay up for 24 hours at a speed of 644kph

After the closure of the Shamsi Air Force Base in Balochistan, the drones will have to take off and land in Jalalabad in Afghanistan. Last year, the American military stationed Global Hawk surveillance drones in Guam. This year the birds are to be nested in Taiwan.

The Global Hawks, the Predator and Reaper drones would monitor the movements of China’s forces, its coastal missile batteries. According to press reports–John Pike, head of the -Washington-based Global Security think tank, told the Taipei Times that the Predators and Reapers would probably be used to monitor the Chinese coast where they could provide more “persistent” coverage than is provided by spy satellites. China has developed advanced drones and the US policy makers are concerned about their development.


US drones migrating to China | Pakistan Patriot