To Rule the Invisible Battlefield: The Electromagnetic Spectrum and Chinese Military Power
Marcus Clay
January 22, 2021
Commentary
clay
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We will show you our strategic strength, we are the pillar for the infinite battlefield.
Maneuvering troops miraculously as we pry open the heavenly eye,
Casting nets from heaven to earth with no places for enemy ties to hide
March forward, powerful Strategic Support Force,
Follow the Communist Party’s command, resolutely fight to win!
-“March Forward, Powerful Strategic Support Forceâ€
Lyrics by Wang Xiaoling, Zhao Shixin, Composed by Wang Luming
The fight for electromagnetic spectrum superiority has been ongoing for over a century. The U.S. military’s domination of the spectrum has steadily declined over the past two decades. This is mainly because American defense planners and warfighters have been preoccupied with non-peer adversaries operating in a highly permissive spectrum environment. In the same timeframe, China has been making moves to strengthen its electromagnetic spectrum-enabled capabilities, and has brought itself to near parity with the United States. Five years ago, against the backdrop of broader structural reforms, the People’s Liberation Army took a major institutional step to fuse its previously disaggregated space, network, and electronic warfare elements by creating the Strategic Support Force. Washington views this as evidence of Chinese military leaders’ belief that “achieving information dominance and denying adversaries the use of the electromagnetic spectrum is necessary to seize and maintain the strategic initiative in a conflict.â€
https://warontherocks.com/2021/01/to-rule-the-invisible-battlefield-the-electromagnetic-spectrum-and-chinese-military-power/
