Offensive Information Warfare Systems and Operations

Yuan’s definition of the offensive mission reflects a growing consensus among PLA air – and spacepower theorists (including the authors of The Sci­ence of Campaigns in 2007) that a primary objective of offensive missions is to destroy or undermine the capability of the enemy’s command and control, sur­veillance, and other information systems to function together effectively. This mission is to be accomplished by sudden, carefully targeted attacks on “key – point” (zhongdian, Фй) or “critical” (yaohai, ШШ) targets. A critical aim is to disable enemy air defenses and induce paralysis, blindness, or isolation in these key combat systems at least long enough for PLAAF forces to establish and exploit corridors to carry out their main attacks.

A number of PLA air – and spacepower analysts portray these enemy information systems as fragile, interdependent “systems of systems” that are potentially subject to something like cascade failure, rather than as intercon­nected systems with a robust level of redundancy built in. Analysts Cai Feng – zhen and Tian Anping contend that, properly carried out, “an attack on one point can paralyze the entire situation” (ji qiyidian tanhuan quanju, фй—,йШ Йй^).29 This perspective that the enemy is a vulnerable “system of systems” is spelled out in a number of other analyses as well.30

Toward this end, PLA analysts increasingly emphasize the critical role that achieving information superiority (xinxi youshi, and under­

taking successful information operations plays in the offensive mission to incapacitate enemy systems while protecting China’s own systems.31 They distinguish three aspects of information operations that play a critical role in the overall offensive mission—reconnaissance, attacks, and defense:32

■ Information reconnaissance involves expanding the campaign com­manders’ capability for gathering intelligence materials on enemy information operations.33

■ Information attacks involve seeking information superiority by dis­rupting the enemy’s flows of key information. A major purpose of these operations is “to completely blind the enemy’s air defense sys­tem” and “to open a gap in the enemy’s air defense system to make it difficult for the enemy to organize effective interception actions.” PLA analysts note two forms of “soft” information attacks—electronic jamming and deception and computer network attacks—and “hard” attacks involving firepower destruction of enemy information assets.34 Key targets include enemy reconnaissance and early warning satellites, airborne early warning and control aircraft, ground-based long-range warning and fire-control radars, surface-to-air missile radars, and command guidance systems.35 The Science of Campaigns specifically recommends that attack planners assign a portion of China’s most capable fighters to attack enemy airborne warning and control system (AWACS) planes in order to “chop down one of the enemy’s important information pillars” (qieduan di de zhongyao xinxi zhizhang, ЩІШШ МШШШ^^Й).36 Some analysts contend that China’s electronic jam­ming and deception resources are limited at present, and hence these information attacks are likely to rely more heavily on air attacks.37 This strongly suggests that Chinese forces may be forced to place much greater emphasis on destroying enemy warning and command and control and guidance systems through use of firepower destruction.

■ Information defense involves organizing defensive operations to pre­vent enemy jamming, firepower destruction, and computer network attacks.