China Maritime Studies Institute – In August 2023, the United States Pacific Command (PACOM) first used the term “Hellscape” to describe a future Taiwan Strait battlefield. That same month the Pentagon unveiled the Replicator Initiative, which reportedly aims to rapidly field thousands of expendable uncrewed systems. Official People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sources have reacted to the U.S. military’s public remarks about Hellscape in a strident fashion. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) defense ministry spokesman said Americans advocating for the Hellscape concept “should prepare to burn in hell” and called such individuals “extremely psychotic.” Yet contrary to the PLA’s dismissive political rhetoric and claims that the U.S. is a “paper tiger,” many military experts in China take Hellscape and Replicator seriously and respect the core premise of employing large numbers of cheap drones, seeing it as one of the keys to the future of war.