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The US risks being outpaced by China in groundbreaking military hi-tech, including artificial intelligence, robotics and big data, former US Deputy Defense Secretary warned, adding “this is what it feels like to be offset.”
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The United States “should be prepared to be surprised” in any conflict with China, not only because Beijing has done a lot to modernize its armed forces, but also how much it has invested in next-generation military technology, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work told a conference ‘Strategic competition: Maintaining the edge’ hosted by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
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“As I watch the ongoing military technical competition in the Western Pacific, in between our two great power rivals – especially China – I find myself saying: This is what it feels like to be offset,” Work added. “And I got to tell you – it doesn’t feel very good.”
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Work, a retired Marine Colonel who served as Deputy Defense Secretary from 2014 until 2017 under Obama and Trump administrations, China “wants to be a first mover” in artificial intelligence, incorporating the Internet of things, big data, robotics and machine learning.
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“That will be how they will get ahead of the United States,” Work said, adding the US should invest its $700 billion-worth military budget into artificial intelligence and the like to narrow the gaps.
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According to the former defense official, China is poised to beat the US in future battlefields by building up first-strike capabilities as well as disrupting American command-and-control networks. The Chinese “are looking deep and shooting deep,” Work stated.
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He said China’s progress is evident in electronic warfare, cyber, counter-space systems, hypersonic and rail-guns – the kinds of next-generation weapons systems being also tested in the US and Russia.
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Speaking at the same event, Air Force General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added the Chinese “haven’t mass deployed hypersonics or long-range [tactical] ballistic missiles” yet, but they are able now “to deploy those capabilities at a large scale.”
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https://www.rt.com/usa/430910-us-behind-china-military-technology/