WASHINGTON: According to a new analysis by an Australian think tank, Chinese research on some critical military technologies is so far ahead that the United States and its key allies may never be able to catch up.
According to Voice of America, The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) issued its findings Tuesday based on a review of the top 10 percent of the most highly cited research papers, concluding China leads in 19 of 23 key categories, including some that are likely to play a significant role in Beijing’s push for army prominence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
China “has a commanding lead in hypersonics, electronic warfare and key undersea capabilities,” the ASPI study found, further warning, “China’s leads are so emphatic they create a significant risk that China might dominate future technological breakthroughs in these places.”
The analysis further found that for hypersonics, nine of the ten leading research institutions are based in China, while China is home to all 10 of the top research venues for undersea drones.
Unlike ballistic missiles, which fly at hypersonic speeds but travel along a set trajectory, hypersonic weapons are highly manoeuvrable despite flying at Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.
And the gaps between China and everyone else are significant. With some technologies, like hypersonics, China produces more than 73 per cent of all high-impact research, more than the United States and the following eight countries combined.
The analysis also indicated that China is using Western research institutions to its advantage.
More than 14 per cent of “high-impact” Chinese authors — those who wrote the works cited most often — did their post-graduate training in the United States, Australia or Britain, ASPI said, noting the percentage is close to 20 per cent for researchers writing about hypersonic detections and close to 18 per cent for electronic warfare.
However, there are some places where the United States and its allies maintain an edge.
ASPI said the United States leads in high-impact research on autonomous systems, quantum computing and quantum sensors, some places of artificial intelligence and protective cybersecurity.
When United States research efforts are combined with those of Australia and Britain, the so-called AUKUS relationships, the gap closes more. However, China still retains a considerable research advantage.
“The fact that the three AUKUS nations still trail China in some fields even when their efforts are tallied underscores the value of the technology-sharing agreement, whose aim is to accelerate shared technological development by enabling the partners to leverage one another’s strengths,” ASPI wrote in a statement accompanying the report.
ASPI hoped the findings would “strengthen some calls for AUKUS to expand technology cooperation to other countries such as Japan.”
The United States, Australia and Britain entered into the AUKUS agreement in September 2021 to address mutual Indo-Pacific concerns and boost advancements in artificial technology, quantum computing and cyber defence.
