A Ukrainian soldier operating a drone. AP=Yonhap News

"You receive one drone, and you train with it. Then you receive a new drone and train and test with that one."

On an island in Hawaii, U.S. Army Corporal Josiah Whitten, participating in his unit's drone warfare training, was counting the number of enemy troops on a laptop screen, looking at the video sent by a reconnaissance drone hovering about 600 meters above the jungle.

Conversely, Sergeant Kama-Kani-O-Ka-Lani Man Tomita, playing the role of the virtual enemy, launched a surprise attack on the opponent's hiding place using seven swarm drones.

He remarked that his platoon, which operated only one small quadcopter drone a year ago, now has its operational scope expanded to seven different types, describing the new form of 'drone warfare' as "honestly, it's very, very scary."

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 12th (local time) that the U.S. Army is comprehensively revamping its equipment and tactics with a focus on strengthening its drone warfare capabilities in preparation for a potential war with China in the Pacific, citing scenes from training exercises conducted in November across various Hawaiian islands.

In a large-scale training exercise that lasted two weeks, the U.S. Army unveiled the latest drone equipment, whose importance has been significantly highlighted in the Ukraine-Russia war.

The WSJ pointed out, "These systems are dominating the battlefield in Ukraine and Russia," and that "the United States, long reliant on expensive combat equipment, is transitioning to an entirely new era centered on mobile, relatively inexpensive expendable equipment to catch up."

The U.S. Army has primarily fought against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past two decades, but the nature of a potential war with China on the Pacific front could be entirely different.

China possesses the world's largest missile arsenal and has the industrial capacity to support a protracted war.

Therefore, if U.S. forces were to engage in war with Chinese forces in the Pacific, they might face difficulties in achieving air superiority, with troops scattered across densely jungled Pacific islands, fighting under limited logistical support.

The exercise, involving over 8,000 personnel including U.S. troops and forces from allied nations such as Taiwan, France, and Malaysia, was based on a scenario where an allied island territory was attacked, enemy forces made an initial landing, and U.S. troops engaged in combat weeks later.

The WSJ noted that although the virtual enemy nation in this exercise was not explicitly named, it was reminiscent of China's potential invasion scenario for Taiwan.

If China invades Taiwan to forcibly annex it, and the U.S. intervenes, it is highly probable that U.S. and Chinese forces would engage in conflict along the 'First Island Chain,' which stretches from Okinawa to Taiwan, the Philippines, and the Strait of Malacca.

A key characteristic of this exercise was the full utilization of the latest drone technology by both the forces playing the role of the U.S. Army and the virtual enemy forces.

Soldiers are learning to fight using drones, fight against enemy drones, and fight through electronic warfare.

Service members trained to locate and attack opponents with a variety of drones, ranging from advanced swarm drones to low-cost, custom-made kamikaze drones produced by 3D printers.

They also learned to disrupt enemy drones using an iPhone-sized drone jammer and to shoot down incoming drones with precision using a 'Smart Shooter' mounted on the barrel of an M4 rifle.

In response to the changing battlefield environment exposed to drones, command posts, which are vulnerable to attack, were reduced to the size of a few trucks, and equipment was thoroughly camouflaged with tarps and branches.

Considering the reality of numerous types of drones, from mass-produced large drones to small commercial drones, being deployed on the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine war, this exercise involved various types of drones and conducted over 600 flights.

Major General James Bartholomees of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division, who participated in the training, said, "The truth of modern combat is that everyone is exposed," and added, "What we've learned from Ukraine is a kind of cat-and-mouse game."

One of the two brigades of the 25th Infantry Division will deploy to the Philippines, which forms part of the First Island Chain, next year to conduct new tests based on the lessons learned from this exercise.

Sergeant Major Sean Curry stated, "We are going to see if what worked here in Hawaii will also work in the First Island Chain, an environment with 38 degrees Celsius and 100% humidity."