Camouflage Dies: China’s AI View of the Battlefield

Satellites, artificial intelligence, long-range radars and sensors will in the future form a single network. According to Israeli defense experts who spoke to the author, China is currently working at full speed to locate opponents within minutes and engage them precisely. The consequences extend far beyond the Indo-Pacific: Western armed forces must also prepare for a battlefield where every movement can be detected and analyzed in near real time.

Contents:

• China’s Multi-Domain Precision Warfare
• More than 500 reconnaissance satellites
• Reconnaissance also from the geostationary orbit
• China’s Artificial Intelligence shortens the kill chain
• The strength lies in networking
• The battlefield becomes transparent

How long can a unit in combat still hide in the future? This question, according to Israeli defense experts who spoke to the author, now also preoccupies the Israeli armed forces. The background is the rapid development of Chinese capabilities for networked reconnaissance and target engagement. Israel is drawing consequences from this, according to security circle information, and is working to avoid becoming a ‘glass enemy’ itself in the face of the possibilities of modern Chinese sensor and command networks.

China’s Multi-Domain Precision Warfare

At the center is the Chinese concept of Multi-Domain Precision Warfare (MDPW). The Chinese People’s Liberation Army pursues MDPW with a fundamentally different approach from traditional warfare. The aim of this approach is no longer primarily the defeat of individual tanks, ships, or aircraft. Instead, the entire military system of an adversary is to be paralyzed.