The Robot War: China wants to surround islands in the South China Sea with drones
China has proposed turning disputed islands in the South China Sea into robotic fortresses. They can be surrounded by UAVs, unmanned boats and underwater vehicles combined into a single defense system. Experts warn that the proliferation of such systems can accelerate the race of unmanned weapons in the region. Why Beijing needs an army of robots and whether such a defense format will become part of the wars of the future is in the Izvestia article.
Drones on the defensive
About a third of the world's shipping passes through the South China Sea. This route is particularly critical for China, as it transports significant volumes of oil and LNG from the Middle East and Africa. Today, several states are contesting for the islands and waters of the region, including China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
Beijing claims the Spratly Archipelago, controls the Paracel Islands, which Vietnam also claims, and disputes Scarborough Reef from the Philippines. At the same time, China continues to strengthen its positions. One of the latest examples is the Antelope Reef. According to Reuters, in just a few months, an artificial island with a length of about 6 km, a deep-water harbor and a pier appeared there. Now China is probably preparing a site for an airstrip more than 3 km long, capable of receiving military aircraft.
But then there's more. Researchers at the Chinese Coast Guard Academy have proposed surrounding island outposts with a multi-level network of drones. The concept is published in the specialized military technical journal Command Control & Simulation, which is published by the state construction Corporation CSSC.
They want to build three defense rings around the island at once. Reconnaissance and attack UAVs and unmanned boats will operate on distant approaches, which should monitor, among other things, the "blind zones" around the reefs. Small drones, kamikaze drones, and underwater vehicles can be used closer to shore. The data they collect will be combined to assess the degree of threat.
According to the SCMP newspaper, the project appeared against the background of the proliferation of cheap drones, which noticeably changed the nature of hostilities at sea. "Traditional, human—controlled defense systems are becoming increasingly vulnerable to unmanned aerial and naval groups," the publication claims. Therefore, Chinese researchers propose responding to threats with a "coordinated swarm of machines instead of soldiers."
Moreover, some elements of such a system already exist in China. For example, the UB1 Sharp Shark 10 unmanned boat is capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 knots and carrying a 12.7mm machine gun. At the same time, China is developing aerial and underwater unmanned platforms.
A troubled region
Violent incidents occur regularly in the waters of the South China Sea. In July alone, Chinese and Filipino vessels were on the verge of collision several times at Scarborough Reef and the Second Thomas Shoal. The Chinese Coast Guard used water cannons against Filipino vessels, and during one of the episodes, a Chinese ship approached them by about 7 m.
It also came to collisions between the Chinese ships themselves. In August 2025, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy ship collided off Scarborough while chasing a Philippine patrol boat. As a result, the Chinese Coast Guard vessel suffered serious damage to the bow.
The United States is becoming increasingly involved in the confrontation. Washington and Manila are bound by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. The American side has repeatedly stressed that allied commitments extend, among other things, to armed attacks on Philippine ships and coast guards in the South China Sea.
After the July incidents, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio once again recalled his allied obligations to the Philippines. "China's alarming series of provocations against the legitimate maritime operations of the Philippines undermines regional peace and stability and directly contradicts China's repeated promises to resolve disputes peacefully," the US State Department said in a statement.
Moreover, in the spring, the United States and the Philippines conducted the largest Balikatan exercises in history with the participation of more than 17,000 troops, including about 10,000 American soldiers. Japan, Australia, France, Canada and New Zealand joined the maneuvers. The military practiced naval strikes, as well as air defense and missile defense. And in the north of the Philippines, the Americans deployed the NMESIS mobile anti-ship system.
At the same time, the United States has access to nine Philippine military facilities under the EDCA agreement, including sites located in the direction of the South China Sea and Taiwan.
But China also does not stand aside and responds with its own demonstration of force: during Balikatan, the PLA staged combat patrols of aircraft and fleet in the Scarborough area.
Cars instead of soldiers
The main advantage of robotic defense is the ability to reduce the presence of people directly in the area of a possible strike, military political analyst Alexander Perendzhiev explained to Izvestia. This is especially important for remote islands: a small garrison is isolated from the main territory, its supply and support in combat conditions are complicated, and isolation can affect the morale of military personnel.
— The Chinese take this into account. Large losses of personnel or the capture of the garrison in the event of the capture of the island would be a serious image blow to Beijing. Therefore, relying on robotic defense makes it possible to simultaneously reduce risks for people and make it more difficult for the enemy to capture such facilities," the expert noted.
At the same time, according to him, the appearance of such fortresses may encourage other countries in the region to develop their own UAVs and unmanned boats. However, even a successful drone attack by itself will not allow to establish control over the island.
— Drones are capable of causing serious damage to the defense, but you will still have to land troops to capture the territory. And it will already be possible to hit it with aircraft, missiles and ships. This is one of the advantages of the Chinese scheme: machines take the first blow, while the enemy still has to risk people to achieve the final goal," the source explained.
China already has the technical base to implement the project, military expert Anatoly Matviychuk pointed out. Beijing has technologies for group control of drones and is developing various types of devices: air, sea, and in the future, underwater.
— In fact, we are talking about a multi-domain defense: one object is simultaneously covered from the air, from the sea and from under water. So Beijing is quite capable of creating such a unified system," the expert admitted in an interview with Izvestia.
Modern conflicts are dismantling another trend: expensive weapons may be vulnerable to cheap and massive drones. China is also studying this experience. However, it is too early to say that drones will completely replace complex combat systems in the foreseeable future.
— Any new weapon develops until an effective means of fighting against it appears. China is already working on systems to counter massive drone attacks. When such technologies become widespread, the nature of the use of drones will change again," the expert warned.
The Chinese experience may also be useful to Russia, including for the protection of remote territories in the Far East. Perendzhiev separately drew attention to the Arctic, where the maintenance of permanent garrisons is complicated by the climate, long distances and logistics. According to the military political scientist, some of the tasks of monitoring and protecting such facilities could be transferred to unmanned systems.
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