China Is Building Sophisticated Cyber Weapons To “Take Control” Of Enemy Satellitesrendering them useless for data signals or surveillance during wartime, according to a leaked US intelligence report.
The US has repeatedly expressed its concern about China’s drive in its development of capabilities to “exploit or hijack” enemy satellites, from Washington they believe that a central part of Beijing’s goal is to control information, which the regime considers a “dominance of warfare” clue.
According to the British media, Financial Times, A CIA document, which was issued this year, contains some very important US intelligence revelations about space activity over more than a decade.
“China’s most ambitious cyberattacks aim to mimic the signals enemy satellites receive from their operators, tricking them into being taken over entirely or malfunctioning during crucial moments of combat,” the report said. Financial Times .
The classified US document highlights that China’s cyber capability would allow it to “take control of a satellite, rendering it ineffective in supporting communications, weapons, or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems.”
Taiwan is trying to build a communications infrastructure that can survive an attack by China, amid the threat of invasion on the island.
The space has “changed radically” in a few years due to the increasing arms raceaccording to an American general, who stressed that the biggest “threat” is Chinafollowed by Russia.
“We are seeing that our strategic competitors are manufacturing a wide variety of weaponssaid the general bradley chance saltzmanthe commander of United States operations in space, in an interview with a small group of media.
“The most challenging threat is China, but also Russia”, he stated in a discussion on the sidelines of the Security Conference of Munichin Germany.
The military cited technologies such as anti-satellite missiles (ASAT), weapons directed energy and aircraft with orbital interception capabilities.
“We have to take into account that space as a disputed domain has changed radically. The way we operate in space has to change, and that’s mostly because of the weapons that (China) and Russia have tested and, in some cases, put into operation,” he explained.
These statements have a special aspect given the growing tensions between United States and Chinawhich were reflected in the tense exchanges in February in Munich between the head of US diplomacy, Anthony Blinken and its Chinese counterpart, wang yiabout the alleged Chinese spy balloon.
Blinken warned Wang that “it must not happen again” that China sends a plane over US airspace.
For his part, the head of Chinese diplomacy stated that the reaction of Washington to bring down the balloon damaged relations between the two countries.
Beijing claimed the balloon was a meteorological research device that veered off course.
space arms race
The arms race in space is nothing new. In 1985, the Pentagon used a missile to destroy a satellite on a test basis. China followed suit in 2007 and India in 2019.
Countries are increasingly secretive about their military activities in space, but in 2019, when the Pentagon launched its Space Force, the United States Department of Defense he projected that Russia and China had the potential to overtake the United States.
Saltzman denied that the United States is lagging behind.
But, the fight has evolved and the idea is no longer to destroy satellites with missiles or build kamikaze satellites, but to find ways to damage them with lasers or powerful microwaves.
The conflict in Ukraine has served as a reminder of the importance of space in current and future wars.
“Space is important in modern warfare,” Saltzman said. “You can attack space without going into space, through networks cybernetic or other vectors. We have to make sure that we are defending all of these capabilities.”
Increasing military activity, in combination with commercial operations, pose potential problems of collateral damage or destructive debris.
Space “is going to get more and more congested,” he added.
Saltzman has not held talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts, his team told AFP.
“If we can operate with a clear idea of what the standards are, we will be much more secure,” he concluded.
(With information from AFP)
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Source-www.infobae.com