This is John Batchler, a conversation with colleague Rick Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center

about Chinese and American plans for moon bases, moon colonies, to defend them.

With what?

Here, Rick introduces us to a known project that's headed to the moon soon enough to experiment by the Chinese.

It's called a moon hopper.

There's no atmosphere on the moon.

So a flying drone has to motivate itself, has to repel itself by other means.

Rick describes dual-use moon hopper and artillery.

Much more of this tonight.

Rick Fisher....orbit and therefore control chances for victory on Earth. So this is a clear indication

to me that China will want to defend some could will want to build something on the moon

worth defending with weapons.

Now, there is, in my opinion, a kind of a military competition already underway between

China and the United States on the moon. It's not a competition in specific flashy weapons per se, but it certainly is a

competition in potential dual-use systems. I would point to China's intention to put a moon hopper

on the moon later this year with the Changi 7 mission.

The moon hopper is a small unmanned device that would elevate itself, move, and then descend into a large lunar crater, into the shadowed area of that crater,

in hopes of finding some kind of measurable amount of lunar water ice,

which would be an astounding and amazing discovery for the Chinese.

But consider this hopper is basically an unmanned aerial vehicle on the moon.

And we know what happens when you use unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine.

We know what the Chinese want to do with UAVs on Taiwan.

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