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Description

Key Takeaways:

  • In August 2023, the United States Pacific Command (PACOM) first used the term “Hellscape” to describe a future Taiwan Strait battlefield. That same month the Pentagon unveiled the Replicator Initiative, which reportedly aims to rapidly field thousands of expendable uncrewed systems.
  • Official People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sources have reacted to the U.S. military’s public remarks about Hellscape in a strident fashion. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) defense ministry spokesman said Americans advocating for the Hellscape concept “should prepare to burn in hell” and called such individuals “extremely psychotic.”
  • China’s flagship military media outlet claimed the United States was a “paper tiger” that was unable and unwilling to defend Taiwan, and suggested Hellscape would fail, in part, because all Taiwanese defense forces would be dead before U.S. assistance could reach the island.
  • Yet contrary to the PLA’s dismissive political rhetoric and claims that the U.S. is a “paper tiger,” many military experts in China take Hellscape and Replicator seriously and respect the core premise of employing large numbers of cheap drones, seeing it as one of the keys to the future of war.
  • In the view of some PRC observers, Hellscape is not only a warfighting plan, but also a strategic ploy. They believe the U.S. wants to erode China’s determination to conduct military operations against Taiwan and aims to develop a cost imposition strategy, forcing the PRC into a reactive position.
  • Defense experts in China assert that Beijing should consider several options for responding to Replicator and Hellscape. These include developing shipborne laser weapons, improving intelligence and electronic warfare capabilities, and targeting American logistics lines.
  • If the PRC’s vociferous words tell us anything, it is that the Communist Party authorities find the ideas behind Hellscape and Replicator disquieting, but they are probably not convinced these efforts have succeeded.

Publication Date

8-26-2026

Publisher

China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S Naval War College

City

Newport, Rhode Island

Keywords

China Maritime Studies Institute, CMSI, Chinese Navy, PLAN, Taiwan, Taiwan Strait, Hellscape, Replicator Initiative

CMSI Note 24: Crossing a Hellscape: PLA Views on New U.S. Military Concepts to Defend Taiwan

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