Psychological Warfare, Features of Intelligent of Warfare, and New Space White Paper
Issue 16, 31 Jan 2022
I. Military and Warfare
Psychological Warfare/ Mind Warfare
An article by Gui Xiao from Centre on Military-Political Work, Academy of Military Sciences (AMS) is on "Psychological War"/ "mind war" (心智战 Xīnzhì zhàn). The author equates "Psychological warfare" (心智战 Xīnzhì zhàn) to "cognitive warfare" (认知战 Rènzhī zhàn).
The author quotes claims made by Andrei Ilnitsky, advisor to the Russian Defence Minister, in 2021. He claimed that the US is waging a "mental war" against Russia. Gui Xiao starts his article by quoting Andrei that the US is trying to "change self-perception" of the Russian people and destroy the Russian people's identity of country and nation, and changing the foundation of Russian national civilization. While analyzing the situation between the US and Russia, Gui Xiao states that the possibility of psychological war between the US and Russia in the next ten years is far greater than military war.
Key points from the article:
The US does not dare to launch a military war against Russia due to its nuclear weapons. Hence waging psychological war.
The US has been waging psychological war for decades and Russian people have just recently started to recover an understanding of their country's traditional culture, returning to traditional family values and healthy lifestyles.
Russia has not recovered from decades of psychological attacks and has not yet recovered its social and moral foundation. The generation born before collapsing of the Soviet Union and the 1990s generation has not yet recovered.
Targets of such warfare are:
Russian president, government agencies, the military, and young people.
Banks, energy agencies, social networks, and the media.
Areas under attack:
Russian history, religion, education, politics, economy, etc. of which tampering with Russian history is the focus.
The US psychological warfare is carried out by a wide range of subjects, including the government, the media, and non-governmental organizations.
Russia is also conducting psychological war against American and European countries through various means.
The US' means of psychological war against Russia
Infiltrate public consciousness with popular culture.
Westernization of Russian elite using awards, recognition, rankings, etc.
Internet and social media manipulation.
Promoting and supporting elites in finance to mislead national policy.
Russian countermeasures
Incorporate Psychological warfare in national security strategy (incorporated in July 2021)
Build the ideological foundation for national unity with the military as the core.
Build Russia's own internet brand.
Accelerate research on technologies enabling psychological warfare: Russia has set up an Advance Research Centre and is carrying out research in related fields like cognitive defense enhancement technology using neurobiology and nanotechnology, creating neural interface models to expand people's psychophysiological limits, human-like intelligence technology, etc.
Even though the topic of the article is psychological warfare of the US against Russia, the subtext is that China should be prepared for such possibility. Chinese leaders have also been worried about the influence of western culture on Chinese youth. Moreover, as the author claims that Russia suffered decades of attack by Western actors, similarly the narrative of the century of humiliation of China by western powers (and Japan) between 1839 to 1949 is also strong among elites. Hence, ensuring that Chinese people understand fallacies of westernization has been an important part of CPC propaganda. Refer to testimony of Alison Kufman before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission for additional information (Addition Readings).
Features of Intelligent Warfare
An article by Huang Hongqiang and HD Sen (affiliation not given) outlines key features of intelligent warfare (智能化作战 Zhìnéng huà zuòzhàn). Authors state that intelligent warfare has features such as cloud-network support, cross-domain integration, data-driven, algorithm-led, and autonomous intelligence.
Key features outlined by the author are:
Efficient cloud-network-intelligence aggregation (云网智联聚合效能): The key here is to use cloud integration and intelligent technologies to improve the effectiveness of combat. These technologies include Internet-of-things (IoT), blockchain, distributed cloud, artificial intelligence. Building an interconnected information network and flexible combination of various combat modules into one integrated system is needed.
Data-driven operations (数据驱动体系运行): Data-driven operations will be important for intelligent warfare. For this, massive accumulation of wartime and peacetime data such as combat forces, weapons and equipment, and battlefield environment and experience-based data such as exercise training, battle cases, and simulations are needed. The ability to transfer data quickly and use data accurately is also important.
Leveraging intelligent algorithms (智能算法创造优势): Intelligent algorithms can give cognition, speed, and decision making advantage. Intelligent algorithms can handle a large amount of data and transform it into actionable intelligence. Intelligent algorithms with the support of high processing chips can quickly and efficiently process available information. AI and high-processing chips integrated into weapons and equipment can efficiently process intelligence information, respond instantaneously to battlefield conditions, quickly generate decision-making plans, quickly from combat deployments, and conduct high-speed strikes or assault operations. Lastly, Relying on intelligent algorithms and intelligent cloud networks, command decision-making can gradually change from the current human-based decision-making to human-machine interactive decision-making or autonomous machine-based decision-making. The system can uncover deeply hidden content and key information behind the data, and quickly and autonomously make decisions. Hence, the decision-making process can be greatly compressed with improved efficiency.
Human-machine collaboration (人机协作一体联动): In intelligent warfare, unmanned and autonomous systems will be a key feature. Unmanned swarm operations can increase the efficiency of operations by self-organization and adaptive actions. Human-machine integration can aid commanders in decision-making in real-time and reduce the time required to select the most appropriate action according to the situation on the battlefield. Lastly, combat effectiveness can be improved by implementing synchronous and parallel actions.
Additional Reading:
II. SinoSync
New White Paper on Space
State Council Information Office of China released a white paper of its space program recently (Full text available here). This is the fifth such white paper by China. Previously, China had released white papers on space in 2000, 2006, 2011, and 2016.
The document titled “China’s Space Program: A 2021 Perspective” highlights major achievements of China's space program from 2016 to Dec 2021. One of the reasons for releasing these white papers is so that the international community can understand China's objectives and actions in space. That’s why it is released in English, unlike most documents that are released in Chinese first. Another is to show the international community that China is a responsible and growing space power. The first line of the document itself quotes Xi Jinping saying, "to explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry and build China into a space power is our eternal dream." Moreover, the activities highlighted in the document like handling pf space debris and governance norms are something other space powers including the US are also grappling with.
The Paper also mentions the building space industry and applications of space exploration for businesses. The new business models for the industry include avenues like travel, biomedicine, debris removal, and experiment services.
Unlike previous white papers, the latest white paper does not separate milestones and goals for the next five years in separate sections. Instead, the paper is divided into sections based on focus areas. Milestones and future activities are divided into the space transport system, space infrastructure, manned spaceflight, deep space exploration, space launch telemetry and tracking, space environment governance, and experiment on new technologies.
Some of the projects mentioned in the document are already set in motion. For example, China and Russia have agreed to cooperate and build International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). ILRS is expected to be in operation by 2035. The legally binding intergovernmental agreement on this project is expected to be signed this year. 2021 guidelines on the ILRS project can be found here.
The importance of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has once again been highlighted with the Paper stating "strengthening international space cooperation that is based on common goals and serves the Belt and Road Initiative" as one of the basic policies of international cooperation. The Paper also recognizes the central role of the UN in managing outer space affairs.
The white paper does not go into the military applications and activities in space.
Highlight's from the white paper are given below (Also check out this infographic released by CNSA):
Next five years in boosting public services with satellites:
Integration of satellite applications with new-generation information technologies like AI and big data
Integrated application of remote-sensing satellite data on land, ocean, and meteorology, advance the construction of infrastructure for integrated application of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, satellite communications, and the ground communications network
Next five years in the commercialization of China's space industry:
Fostering a "space plus" industrial ecosystem and promoting emerging strategic industries related to space
Expand the scope of government procurement of space products and services among other things
The negative list for market access to space activities, to ensure fair competition and the orderly entry and exit of participating enterprises
Digital transformations of traditional industries
Integration of space applications and digital economy
Industrialized operation of BeiDou Navigation System
New business models for upscaling the space economy such as travel, biomedicine, debris removal, and experiment services
Next five years in space research:
Satellite for space gravitational wave detection
The Einstein Probe
The advanced space-based solar observatory
The panoramic imaging satellite for solar wind and magnetosphere interaction
The high precision magnetic field measurement satellite, focusing on the subjects of the extreme universe, ripples in time and space, the panoramic view of the sun and the earth, and search for habitable planets
Modernizing space governance:
Formulation of a national space law
Regulations on satellite navigation, strengthening the management of satellite navigation activities, devising measures for the registration of space objects
Regulating the sharing and use of space data and the licensing of civil space launches
Regulations on the management of satellite frequency and orbit resources
Additional Reading:
III. InfoBytes
Cognitive Warfare
Cognitive warfare (CW) is a subset of Psychological Warfare that targets the human mind as a domain of warfare. In CW, the cognitive capabilities of the adversary are targeted. While some experts categorize it as a part of information warfare (IW), some believe it to be something more and with additional elements from neuroscience. To put it simply, CW affects one's capabilities like reasoning, problem-solving, planning, abstract thinking, complex idea comprehension, and learning in a way that benefits attackers.
Read more about cognitive warfare here.
Megha Pardhi is a Research Analyst at The Takshashila Institution. She tweets at @pardhimegha21.