June 13, 2016
The Promise of Unmanned Systems in the Asia Pacific
In this paper, CNAS Associate Fellow Kelley Sayler analyzes the proliferation of unmanned systems—particularly UAVs—within the framework of the increasingly contentious issue of area-denial/anti-access weapon systems in the Asia-Pacific generally, and in China’s near-abroad specifically. Contending that current UAV platforms are inadequate against well-equipped militaries (as opposed to nonstate actors), Sayler overviews development programs and emerging technologies that would benefit the United States both as standalone elements, and as a means to enhance legacy systems for the changing threat environment. Sayler concludes that current restrictions on exports of armed and/or stealthy UAVs degrade the capacity of even trusted allies to share the burden of wartime ISR capability in the Asia-Pacific and thus simplifies potential enemies’ targeting calculus.
Authors
-
Kelley Sayler
Kelley Sayler is a former Associate Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where she worked with the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program and the ...
More from CNAS
-
Navigating the Deepening Russia-China Partnership
Reports
In virtually every dimension of their relationship, cooperation between Beijing and Moscow has increased....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & David Shullman
-
Harnessing Multilateralism for Digital Development
Commentary
Uneven access to digital technology is magnifying societal inequities around the world....
By Kristen A. Cordell & Kristine Lee
-
Washington should keep calm and watch the Australians
Commentary
At a moment of bitter division in the United States, Australia has produced a ray of bipartisan sunshine in Washington....
By Richard Fontaine
-
Sharper: 2020
Commentary
2020 featured an ever-evolving series of national security challenges....
By Sam Dorshimer, Nathalie Grogan, Emily Jin, Chris Estep & Cole Stevens
