U.S. Report: Turn Taiwan Strait Into Drone ‘Hellscape’
27th February 2026
Taipei should “flood” the Taiwan Strait with drones and other UAV-based defensive systems in readiness for invasion by Chinese forces.
That’s the advice of U.S. think tank the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in a report published on Thursday, February 27th. “Hellscape for Taiwan” argues that Taipei’s current approach to defense needs to be updated to match the growing strength of Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army. It also echoes Pentagon wargaming for the region, as reported in the summer of 2024.
A “hellscape,” in current military parlance, would result from the saturation of airspace and waters with thousands of drones and equivalent platforms. From here, invading forces could be struck from multiple domains at once. In this instance, Chinese ships and aircraft could lose superiority and incur heavy losses.