FPI / March 6, 2024
In forging a strategy to defeat U.S. nuclear deterrence, Chinese military brass consider space weapons easier to use than nuclear weapons, a U.S. Air Force think tank report said.
The report by the China Aerospace Studies Institute, based on writings by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officials, states that the communist regime in Beijing has adopted a strategy for a conflict with the United States that calls for “space coercion.”
The report highlights a coercive Chinese military space strategy calling for “compellence” of the United States in peacetime or war rather than relying on traditional threats of nuclear strikes.
Space weapons in China’s arsenal include a missile-launched nuclear warhead that orbits the Earth. The report notes that the fractional orbital bombardment system was tested in 2021.
“Coercive space strikes may also include strikes from space to the ground,” the report said. It quoted one Chinese military writing that says strikes from space to Earth offer “unmatched superiority.”
According to the report, China’s growing arsenal of space warfare capabilities includes:
• ground-based anti-satellite missiles,
• directed energy arms and
• robot satellites able to cripple U.S. military operations that rely heavily on space systems.
The arsenal includes missiles capable of hitting satellites orbiting at all altitudes.
“Targets of orbital bombardment include:
• reconnaissance and early warning systems,
• communication hubs, and
• command centers; logistics systems,
• military-industrial bases,
• electric power and energy systems, and other infrastructure; and
• counter-force targets, including missile positions, airfields, naval bases, nuclear bases, and information warfare installations,” the report said.
The report disclosed Chinese plans for nuclear attacks from space after a U.S. intelligence warning sent to Congress said Russia plans to send a nuclear bomb into orbit.
Military leaders in China regard space as an offense-dominant zone. They say coercive activities and conflict are likely to begin in space.
The PLA writings cited in the report suggest that Chinese military officials place a high priority on threats to U.S. satellites.
The writings use the Chinese term “weishe,” which is often misinterpreted in the West as limited to deterrence. The PLA uses the word to describe a combination of deterrence and “compellence,” better translated as coercion, the report said.
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