Chinese Coast Guard Proposes Robotic Fortresses for South China Sea Islands
The Chinese Coast Guard has put forth a defense proposal to transform contested islands in the South China Sea into autonomous, robotic fortresses. This plan, detailed in a Chinese-language journal supervised by the state-run China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, envisions a maritime defense system primarily composed of coordinated swarms of machines rather than human soldiers. The proposal aims to counter the increasing threat posed by low-cost drone swarms, which have demonstrated their effectiveness as an asymmetric weapon in naval combat, making traditional human-led defenses vulnerable. Researchers from the China Coast Guard Academy’s ship command department and Dalian Maritime University’s Marine Electrical Engineering College have outlined a future where these islands are protected by a multi-domain network of air, surface, and underwater drones. This concept was highlighted in a paper published in July by the military technology journal Command Control & Simulation. 
