The Chinese military has released a ‘hit list’ of US naval targets that it would attack in the event of conflict with America, a new report has claimed.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) identified US radars, sensors and other communication equipment that it would target during a potential conflict in its latest report, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
The army reportedly plans to approach the strike group with drones and create false signals that would confuse or overwhelm the targets’ electronic warfare systems.
PLA’s report also detailed potential strategies for hacking into the US Navy’s Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) system, a vital defense system that allows the naval the entire fleet to share air defense resources.
The Chinese military, in its report, alleged that by mimicking the ‘correct signaling method’ it could ‘infiltrate the CEC network as a cooperative unit and launch attacks’.
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The so-called ‘hit list’ was published in the latest issue of the Defense Industry Conversion in China, a magazine supervised by the state, the SCMP reported.
One of the most vital targets identified on the hit list is the Navy’s AN/SPY-1 phased array radar on its AEGIS ships, Interesting Engineering reported.
If the target was overwhelmed by China’s electronic warfare devices, it could ‘severally weaken’ the CEC’s ability to fight against incoming attacks.
Another primary target identified by the PLA was the Navy’s E-2C Hawkeye early warning aircraft, which is a vital component of an aircraft carrier’s defenses.
Mo Jiaqian, a PLA electronic countermeasures expert who authored the report, suggested ways the PLA could ‘hack’ into the CEC network.
In addition to mimicking the system’s signals, she suggested that ‘continuous access requests can be made to overwhelm one of the CEC nodes with identification tasks, disrupting its operation’.
The information detailed in the PLA report can ‘provide references for the development of electronic countermeasures technology and related equipment in China’s future naval battlefields’, Jiaqian argued.
Her report also explored the workings and advantages of the Navy’s CEC system, which can enable the strike group to fire missiles from any ship in the group.
She argued that this ‘apparent strength’ of the CEC, could also be the system’s greatest potential weakness.
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‘It is formed through the networking of phased array radars, which relies on wireless communication links. When the opposing force employs electronic interference, the wireless links are prone to disconnection or disruption,’ Jiaqian wrote.
It is unclear why the PLA has published this report and whether Jiaqian’s are purely hypothetical or possible with China’s existing electronic warfare technology.
source: dailymail.co.uk/china-army-hit-list-naval-targets-conflict-america
