The PLA Will Launch an Information Warfare to Achieve Information Dominance

On November 30th, Bill Gertz published an op-ed article, saying that based on the Pentagon’s assessment of Beijing’s military capabilities, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will launch a large-scale information warfare through cyber, electronic and conventional attacks to achieve information dominance in future conflicts.

According to the Pentagon’s annual report, the PLA sought to gain information superiority by disrupting the adversary’s ability to acquire, transmit and process information. At the same time, CCP is building electronic warfare systems aiming to destroy American satellites and practice the attacks during its military drills, with the target setups including many types of space-based communications, radar systems and GPS navigation for military operations and precision-guided weapons.

Bill Gertz stated that the PLA is also planning to conduct psychological attacks before the conflict begins, to weaken the fighting will of the adversaries’ armed forces and civilians. Meanwhile, energy-powered cyberattacks on command and control systems will be launched to paralyze the information flow of the opponent. The PLA will also aim to influence the perception, decision-making and behavior of the rivals through “public opinion” manipulation and propaganda.