By Bill Hagestad II.
December 31, 2015, People’s Liberation Army’s governing bodies, the PLA rocket forces, the PLA strategic support troops inaugural meeting was held in August Building.The Army is the armed forces of our party was first built, which needless to say, the military rocket is an upgraded version of the Second Artillery Corps, reflects the strategic support great power status, do not need to deny self, then this strategy support troops may be too mysterious.
Because at the inaugural meeting, the CPC Central Committee General Secretary and State President and CMC Chairman Xi Jinping to the Army, rocket forces, strategic support units and granted the flag caused precepts. This means that the strategic support units, and the People’s Liberation Army is the Army, Navy, Air Force, Army rocket same level independent military services. And with respect to the Army’s “name” and the Second Artillery Rocket Army “named” upgrade, strategic support since the Second Artillery Force of the PLA has become established, the birth of the only new military services. From the point of view of modern high-tech local wars, armed forces and strategic nuclear strike force contains basically the main mode of combat and battlefield environment, then this strategy support troops, and what capability, turned out to be able to come to the fore?
Strategic support troops inaugural meeting, President Xi strategic support units carried out the following qualitative: strategic support units is to maintain national security of new combat forces is an important growth point of our military combat capability of quality. Strategic support units to adhere to all officers and soldiers system integration, civil-military integration, and strive to achieve leapfrog development in key areas, starting point to promote high standards of combat forces to accelerate the development of new, integrated development, strive to build a strong modernization strategy support units.
There are a few key words: new combat forces, combat new quality capability, system integration, civil-military integration, key areas.
Xinhua News Agency news show, strategic support unit’s first commander was Gaojin. Network data shows he originally from Jiangsu Province, of the Jingjiang people. 1985 Gao-Jin enters the PLA Second Artillery Command College. July 2006, promoted to the rank of major general, served as the PLA Second Artillery Force 52 base commander. In December 2011, he served as chief of staff of the PLA Second Artillery Force. August 2013, promoted to the rank of lieutenant.In July 2014, he was transferred to the Assistant Chief of Staff. In December 2014, he was promoted to president of Academy of Military Sciences, and replace older than 1 year old deputy chief of staff YiXiaoguang will become the youngest Chinese Military general officer, Military Academy is the youngest president in history.
On November 2, 2015,Gaojin became a strategic support troops commander in the first 60 days, “Liberation Army Daily” published a paper entitled “deepen defense and military reform is the only way the army strong army Hing,” the signed article . Article specifically mentioned: the world’s new military revolution is an important component of the key variables in the world today and the great development and changes and major adjustments, the large its speed, scope, degree of depth, the impact of the unprecedented. Following another face of this epoch-making revolution in military weapon cold, hot weapons, mechanized military revolution after the world’s major countries competing to adjust its military strategy, stepping up military transformation, in order to reshape the military information as the core morphology, reconstruction of military force system. In the form of war from mechanization to informationization of qualitative leap, under conditions of nuclear deterrence armed Skynet electrical integration of joint operations is increasingly becoming a reality, from the battlefield to the traditional space high, deep, very far from the physical space and virtual space to expand non symmetric, non-contact, non-line combat style more mature, battle to seize control of information has become a comprehensive control over the core mechanism of winning the war profoundly changed.
Armed Skynet electrical integration joint commander Gaojin said nuclear deterrence combat conditions, where “day”, it never refers to the Army’s rocket missile, but in outer space, “net” is in cyberspace, “power” is the electromagnetic space. Modern high-tech local wars, armed forces military remains the key to victory, but also the main battleground in the sea and air space, but a typical characteristic of information warfare is asymmetrical, non-contact, non-line operations, and achieve the key to this transformation is in outer space, cyberspace and electromagnetic space “three special battlefield.” Due to the large electromagnetic space and physical isolation from the impact, typically have only tactical significance. Whereas outer space and cyberspace, it is high, deep, very far from ubiquitous in the physical space and virtual space, which has a strategic significance. On both the battlefield flame, not flesh and blood flying, but dangerous worse than conventional battlefield, troops could have a corresponding force building and sound command response agencies, the result will be a conventional battlefield the outcome must have an important and even qualitative impact.
This is the meaning of China’s “strategic support” forces. Reasoning logically, Chinese strategic support units, it may be in outer space and cyberspace “new combat forces” for giving our military the “new mass combat capability” new growth point.
In order to achieve this capability “strategic support” of military power have set up competing celestial army (troops outer space) and Cyber Army (network warfare units). US troops in outer space, from the “Decree” system, troops belonging to the armed forces, including missile and space defense forces, the Navy’s carrier-based anti-missile forces, the Air Force C4ISR and the use of space satellites Army troops, and in the “military orders on “system, these forces are unified owned by the US strategic command headquarters. In 2009, under the US Strategic Command has established a new subordinate command, namely Network Warfare Command, the unified command of the US Armed Corps network warfare units.
Russia in December 2011 set up air and space defense troops, but it was such a force has only arms and the operational level status, the military power of the central air and space defense forces only jurisdiction, but can not solve Russia’s air defense force under unified command of proposal question. August 1, 2015, the Russian air force and air defense forces, air defense forces merged to form the air and space forces. Which it is now Russia has no air force in the traditional sense. Air and space defense forces will remain the unified command of the Russian General Staff, and the direct leadership of the day will be empty Army General Headquarters. Aerospace duty Army is responsible for unified management of air, anti-aircraft and anti-missile forces, and Russian satellite orbit Cluster spacecraft launch and management. In addition, the missile attack warning systems and space surveillance systems within the scope of the jurisdiction of military air and space.
From the public point of view, so far Russia has not yet set up as a dedicated network warfare units like the US, but does not have a special unified command structure.
Advances in technology, to make human use of outer space and cyberspace, to achieve the purpose of the military, but that does not mean big opportunities for state-owned, have the ability and courage to break the old military system, to adapt to the new form of war requirements. How to build a national unified command and outer space and cyberspace defense system. Russia and the United States gave us a lot of lessons.
The United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War hegemony, had spent heavily in the development of military platforms and a lot of space weapons systems, but the US military space systems, almost all rests in the hands of the Air Force, and the Soviet Union established the Strategic Rocket Forces troops. Visible, the US military is relying on the armed services to build space defense system, and the former Soviet Union is the establishment of a new military services.
At the end of the Cold War, the Russian strategic rocket forces in the original, based on an independent arms to draw a military space forces. March 2011, the Russian military space forces again, based on the formation of air and space defense troops.However, under the oppression of US nuclear weapons, global strike, anti-missile and other space powers, Russia and aerospace field is still fragmented, air and space attack threats it faces increasingly severe pain, while there is no uniform national air and space defense command structure . To safeguard the security of Russian aerospace field, create a better organizational and technical conditions for the implementation of the strategic future of air and space battles, the Russians in August 2015 set up air and space forces. But have to say is that the so-called empty space forces, the Russian equivalent of the US back to the old way, both relying on a unified air defense system to re-member space. This shows that, although Russia considers itself aerospace suffered a big threat, but the economic and technological strength, has been insufficient to support the establishment of a development, a separate military services promising, but only on the basis of the Air Force “linger.”
Russian frustration with respect to the United States the development of air and space power is somewhat intentional play balance. The main part of the US Air Force air and space power, but in the “ABM” the US military in the 21st century the most important military operation of air and space, is the main operator of the US Army. In addition to the Navy’s “Aegis” missile defense system, the US military’s ground-based midcourse ABM, THAAD and Patriot anti-missile terminal, they are in control of the US Army, and a bunch of computer manipulation Army Air Force Base. Of course, whether it is armed soldiers, they eventually unify obey the command of US Strategic Command. But the US military services rely on different building space defense system, military services still reflects the inherent ideological balance thinking. This is because the US military very large volume, especially during the Cold War, which makes the US military services have funding research challenges of new technologies. And after 1986, the new Department of Defense Reorganization Act by the US military approach is from the perspective of the Joint Operations Command, the unified “collection” command the services of new combat forces to integrate. US Network Warfare Command was established, also a product of this approach.
US military advantage of this approach is that the services Eight Immortals recount, the final choice can be optimized in the competition, but the disadvantage is that there is a huge waste, and the services in peacetime and do not belong to the system, it is difficult wartime unity of action. Although the US military reform highlights the joint operations of thought, but the individual military services after all are not the same culture, and outer space and cyberspace, the required military personnel are a small number of capable staff, if the artificial formation of different military services background, a bit “for the United the joint “deliberate sense.
With respect to the United States and Russia, China’s military advantage is the revolution in military time scale, technological change and changes in the army almost simultaneously, the synchronization off, which makes the Chinese military have the opportunity to design the height from the top, in the lessons learned from military based on the construction of military services and more rational planning. While China’s national strength and technological level of rapid growth, but also to the construction of China’s new military services will not fall into the “make bricks without straw,” the fantasy embarrassment.
In the field of anti-missile, the Chinese Defense Ministry has confirmed that the January 11, 2010, September 11, 2012, January 27, 2013, July 23, 2014 were carried out four ground-based midcourse missile interception technical tests. In the field of anti-satellite, the Chinese Foreign Ministry acknowledged in January 2007 anti-satellite missile test. Out media speculation in 2010 and 2013. China has conducted two tests of anti-satellite weapons, but did not get China confirmed. Platform in space, China from 2010 into more than 15 times the average annual emission intensive stage, reaching an average growth of around 20 the number of satellites, the establishment of a chain of day, the Beidou, high scores, and a series of remote sensing satellites family now the number of satellites in orbit over Russia, after the United States. In 2014 MH370 lost contact incident, China urgent mobilization of four models ocean, clouds, high, remote sensing, nearly 10 satellites to provide technical support for ground search and rescue operations.
In network technology, China has become the world’s Internet and mobile Internet users than any other country, not only the birth of a group of like Alibaba, Tencent world-class Internet companies, such as Huawei also appeared in network technology giant. China in the next generation of Internet technology, has become one rule-makers. But while China has become the network against the most affected countries by the world, which means that China must consider the network security of the country from a strategic height, including the establishment of a unified defense force and a network system.
There is no doubt that the new military revolution has proved that outer space is to promote our army “system integration” an important heights, and cyberspace is the embodiment of “civil-military integration,” a typical example of these two historic space is the Chinese army reform the key areas. China established strategic support units, will likely be the world’s first and do not rely on traditional military services to establish a unified military force in outer space and cyberspace defense system. This initiative is bound to leave an indelible mark in the world’s new military revolution.
