In response to the numerical superiority of China's combat platforms, especially the Navy's main combat ships and heavy fighters, the Pentagon previously proposed a "replicator" UAV program. It seems that the U.S. military can balance the numerical superiority of the squadron's manned combat platforms by installing a large number of unmanned combat platforms.
Later, we found that the US military's "replicator" plan is not to purchase unmanned combat platforms on a large scale, but to make a decision-making mechanism, or process, for the rapid procurement of drone combat platforms. Since the announcement of the Replicator program, the Department of Defense has touted it as a key component of the United States' growing military and technological capabilities to counter China. If this move falters, the Pentagon could fall further behind on one of its most important ** fronts.
According to the Pentagon, the United States must adopt a "rapid replication" mechanism when purchasing combat platforms such as drones, first approved by Congress for a large amount of money, and then it can be quickly installed in 2 months to 2 years to quickly install various cheap unmanned combat platforms, thus avoiding the cumbersome review process of traditional procurement. So how is the "Replicator" project going?In fact, there is no need for China to find a way to deal with it, and the Americans themselves have killed the Pentagon's plan.
According to the American newspaper Politico, the Department of Defense's "replicator" program is "disorganized and confusing," and after four months of refinement, no one seems to be able to explain how the program or the Pentagon will pay for it. Recently, nine executives from technology companies held a meeting with senior US military officials, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.
"The plan is very confusing, it really has nothing to do with any dollars, it doesn't make things happen," said a tech executive. It can also be understood that this plan has nothing to do with the military budget, but simply does not work at the level of implementation. Ken Calvert, chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, claimed that the only way the program could make a difference was for Congress to provide more than a year of flexible funding. This gives the tech industry the confidence to plan and invest knowing that the funding will be in place for the long haul. But this is still a huge risk for some startups.
The simple truth is that if there are no orders in the first place, these companies cannot promise to the venture capitalists who fund them that they will see a return. "If we didn't have orders for these products, we wouldn't be building a $100 million plant," one business executive said. ”
The technology leaders who attended the meeting believed that orders with clear delivery schedules were critical to the success of the Replicator program, and arguably a "top priority." And the Pentagon will say: "If you don't have the right product, how can I finance the planned procurement to you". It's a dead knot at all. The second dead knot is still a matter of money. Although the Pentagon said that Congress does not need to approve new resources for the time being, the money for the purchase of drones will come from
US Congressman Gallagher, who was present at the meeting, claimed: if they say they don't need any new money, will they cannibalize the money for critical ammunition, is this something we should copy?"We don't need these widgets, we need to maximize the production of things like long-range anti-ship missiles," Gallagher said in an interview.
The United States** claims that "for the first time in history, we are five to seven years behind our near-peer adversary on a key kinetic technology from a military hardware standpoint." It never really happened. "This is, of course, China. Therefore, the "replicator" plan of the United States is not reliable at all now, first, there is no capital, second, there is no clear order, and third, quite a lot of enterprises have no interest in investing in advance before there is no order. And if there is no suitable product, the Pentagon will not be able to buy the right product even if it has money, it can only be said that it is too difficult.