China Preparing Supersonic Spy Drone Unit; China Readies Its Supersonic Spy Drones: Beijing Moves High-Altitude Aircraft that Travel at ‘three times speed of sound’ to East of the Country – in Threat to US Warships Around Taiwan, Leaked Pentagon Docs Show

China preparing supersonic spy drone unit, leaked US military assessment reportedly says:

US reportedly assesses China could deploy a high-altitude spy drone that travels at least three times the speed of sound

A leaked U.S. military assessment claims that the Chinese military could soon deploy a high-altitude spy drone that travels at least three times the speed of sound, according to a report.

The Washington Post first reported about the leaked assessment into China’s ability to conduct surveillance operations on Tuesday.

The secret assessment by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency indicated technological advances made by the Chinese military could help it target U.S. warships by Taiwan and military bases in the region, according to the Post. The document included satellite imagery dated Aug. 9 over the Lu’an (Liu’an) Airfield, in Dushan County, showing two WZ-8 rocket-propelled reconnaissance drones. The air base sits in eastern China, about 350 miles inland from Shanghai.

Part of a cutting-edge surveillance system, the drones could help China gather real-time mapping data to inform strategy or carry out future missile strikes, the Post says.

The assessment, which the Post says it obtained from a trove of images of classified files posted on Discord by a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, reportedly says the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had “almost certainly” established its first unmanned aerial vehicle unit at the base, which falls under the Eastern Theater Command, the Chinese military branch responsible for enforcing Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over the island of Taiwan.

Other leaked documents supported the existence of additional Chinese spy balloons and assessed that Taiwan is ill-prepared to prevent early Chinese air superiority during an invasion. —>READ MORE HERE

China readies its supersonic spy drones: Beijing moves high-altitude aircraft that travel at ‘three times speed of sound’ to east of the country – in threat to US warships around Taiwan, leaked Pentagon docs show:

China has moved its cutting-edge hypersonic drones to an air base in eastern China, leaked Pentagon documents show, in what is being seen as yet another sign of Beijing’s readiness to launch an attack on Taiwan.

One of the documents, analyzed by The Washington Post, included satellite photos from August 9.

The imagery showed two WZ-8 rocket-propelled reconnaissance drones at an air base in eastern China, about 350 miles inland from Shanghai.

The August maneuvers of the WZ-8 were noted in a secret document from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

They show the Chinese military making technological advances that could help it target American warships around Taiwan and military bases in the region.

They also show the sophistication of Chinese military hardware.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency report says China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), had ‘almost certainly’ established its first unmanned aerial vehicle unit at the base.

The base falls under the Eastern Theater Command, the branch of the Chinese military responsible for enforcing Beijing’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan.

The revelation comes as Congress is due to be presented with a series of scenarios about potential attacks on Taiwan.

The House China Select Committee on Wednesday will take part in a war-game scenario for a simulated Chinese invasion of Taiwan, run by the Center for A New American Security.

The session has been planned to give lawmakers a sense of how a Taiwan conflict would unfold, where U.S. military weaknesses may lie, and the consequences for international trade and American businesses, Axios reported. —>READ MORE HERE

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