China’s military power may surpass the US’s faster than you think, thanks to 6 shrewd strategies

REUTERS/China Daily

China’s military is well on its way to besting the US’s technologic edge, due to rapid economic and military development.
By stealing already-extant weapons technology, China is developing advanced weapons at a rapid pace. It’s also figuring out how to disrupt the US’s battlefield systems, working on long-range weapons, and leading the way on artificial intelligence.
China is also developing highly secretive weapons which might include, "directed energy weapons, advanced space weapons, electromagnetic railguns, high-powered microwave weapons, or even more exotic arms," according to former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work.
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China’s military power is quickly becoming the greatest threat to US military primacy. From posturing in the South China Sea to damaging hacking campaigns, the Chinese government is investing more time and resources into its military strategy, and it shows.

A June report from the Center for a New American Security, co-authored by former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work, outlines the ways China’s strategy and technology threaten to best the US in a great power struggle — and what the US can do to maintain its military primacy.

1. The Chinese government is hacking its way to new technology.

REUTERS/Alex Lee

By employing cyber attacks and hacking to steal US military technology, China is circumventing the long, painstaking research and development phase of weapons manufacturing.

In January and February of 2018, hackers working for the Chinese government were able to steal 614 gigabytes of information from a military contractor about a secretive US Navy project called Sea Dragon, intended to upgrade and improve current US weapons systems by introducing a "disruptive offensive capability," The Washington Post reported.

There are many other known instances of Chinese security breaches; and even at high levels of classification and security, the US government has difficulty controlling the intrusions.

2. China is breaking down US systems.

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China also works to break down US battlefield defenses. The US high-technology battlefield system — the so-called "kill chain" — is comprised of four grids that, working in concert, "find, fix, and finish intended targets," according to the report.

The battlefield grids have to communicate with each other — and that’s where China’s strategy is focused on finding and exploiting vulnerabilities to jam the communication system, degrading an adversary’s ability to strike in concert and, hopefully, make those strikes less effective.

3. Strike early, strike hard.

Reuters

China’s strategy to offset US dominance and gain tactical advantages also depends on its ability to strike early in a conflict, and strike hard. China’s focus on developing long-range ballistic and cruise missiles that match US weapons like the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, which has a range of 100 nautical miles. In some cases, Chinese weapons outmatch US weapons ranges.

This strategy is cost-effective and exploits the US’s previous decision to forgo missiles with a range longer than 500 km under the recently-deceased INF treaty; the US tested its first post-INF range ground-launched missile on August 18. Plus, China can call massive mobile, land-based missile strikes with relative ease, exploiting the US’s dependence on air-based bombardments, which take longer to coordinate.

China has so focused on its missile strategy that it has created a branch of its military entirely devoted to it — the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF), which is now developing "some of the most advanced cruise and ballistic missiles of any force," including hypersonic missiles and the DF-21D "carrier killer," which has a nearly 1,000-mile range, according to the report.

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