OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Satellite images show that China has dramatically increased its electronic warfare installations in the South China Sea.
The buildup is so extreme that it could soon turn the huge area into an electronic dead zone where U.S. planes and ships won’t be able to function.
Here are the details: The Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, has published satellite images that show China is aggressively building electronic warfare installations in the South China Sea.
This means that the waterway could soon be an electronic “dead zone," in which U.S. ships and planes would find it hard to function.
The think tank showed that Beijing’s artificial island bases at Subi Reef and Fiery Cross Reef now have large communication and intelligence-gathering installations.
It also pointed out a network of sensor towers between the island of Hainan and the Paracel Islands.
These are ideally placed to monitor and interfere with any electronic activity in the region.
The think tank says this means vital equipment on U.S. systems may not perform as expected.
Drones could be hacked, navigation signals could be distorted, and datalinks could be hijacked, while communications could also be intercepted and jammed.
In practice this means that combat planes could struggle to find their targets, drones could turn against their owners and the complex web of data sharing that makes the F-35 so useful, could be broken.
A recent report by America’s Brookings Institution stated: “Our military systems are vulnerable.
We need to face that reality by halting the purchase of insecure weapons and support systems — and by incorporating the realities of offensive cyberattacks into our military planning.”