Asian ascent

摘要

As international focus continues to shift to Asia-Pacific and US forces pivot towards the region, Gordon Arthur examines how its allies and potential adversaries are developing unmanned systems capabilities. Zhuhai's Airshow China 2012 exemplified the rise of indigenous UAV programmes in the Asia-Pacific region. China's aerospace industry showed significant maturity compared to the same show two years earlier, with concepts maturing into workable designs. To a lesser extent, the same maturing process is occurring in places such as India, Pakistan, Singapore and South Korea, although Western-manufactured designs are still commonplace in many military inventories.