Auspicious snow welcomes spring, and flowers bloom. The Great Hall of the People once again welcomes the grand event of spring.
Delegates and members of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference shouldered heavy responsibilities and gathered together to discuss national affairs. This year marks the beginning of the “15th Five-Year Plan”. Faced with the turbulent international situation and the profoundly evolving war pattern, the proposal put forward at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee “accelerating the construction of advanced combat capabilities” has become an important topic of concern to military representatives and members.
“Advanced combat capability represents the most advantageous combat capability in information-based and intelligent warfare, and is the ‘weather vane’ of military construction and the ‘controlling high ground’ of military competition. Only by accelerating the development of advanced combat capabilities with a sense of urgency and responsibility that is outdated can we seize the strategic initiative on future battlefields and effectively fulfill the mission and tasks of the new era.” This is a strong consensus among the military representatives and commissioners. With their personal practice from the front lines of exercises and training, border outposts, and scientific research positions, they demonstrated the high morale and spirit of the People’s Army to anchor its goals, shift gears and speed up, and move towards world-class status.
★ System integration and iron fist
When interviewing Representative Qi Weiguang, he showed reporters two charts: one was the training plan of each military branch in the past “with chimneys”, with the color blocks split and shaped like “isolated islands”; the other was the joint exercise and training blueprint of today “building blocks put together”, with the modules interlocking and seamlessly integrated.
“1+1=1, this is the essence of joint operations! ” Qi Weiguang represents a broken word.
He used a joint long-sea cruise as an example to explain how the system “weather vane” reshapes the battlefield. During the entire operation, the “10,000-ton large-wheel drive” no longer “fights alone”, but has transformed into a “maritime information hub” and a “firepower fulcrum”, sharing data in real time with the Air Force’s early warning aircraft, the Navy’s observation station, and the Army’s long-range firepower, weaving precision “Skynet”.
“Any advanced platform will become an ‘information island’ if it is separated from the system. The ‘contingent’ we must seize is system integration and cross-border collaboration! ” Representative Qi Weiguang said.
Representative Chen Song from a synthetic brigade of the Army felt the same way: “In the past, during exercises, we often encountered the embarrassment of‘ the airspace not being open ’‘the frequency band not being connected’. Now, ‘United’ is engraved with combat instinct!” As one of the Army’s first digital unit commanders, he has a particularly deep understanding of systems “weather vanes”. He opened a thick, already slightly curled-edge book he had with him and said: “Before the attack was launched, the army and aviation opened up access roads and covered artillery firepower, each doing their job and cooperating closely. It used to be better than ‘running fast, playing accurately’, but now it looks like ‘connecting well, counting fast’. In one exercise, we achieved ‘discovery is destruction’ under the guidance of a drone, which was unimaginable in the past.”
“Advanced combat capabilities are generated through practical training. We must prioritize ‘battle’, focus on combat, and strive for practical combat! ” Many military representatives and deputies said that the training plans of the troops are no longer divided by “year”, but by “mission cycle”; the assessment standards are no longer “meter-second ring”, but “contribution rate” and “damage value”. When “discovery means destruction” becomes the norm, whoever can move one step faster in system integration will take the initiative on the battlefield.
From “a single military branch” to “a global vision”, from “physical superposition” to “chemical reactions”, the system-integrated “weather vane” is leading the three armies to clench their fingers into a fist and forge advanced combat capabilities that are both strong and sharp.
★ Challenge the extreme and sharpen the blade
The computer screensaver of Representative Wang Wenyi from the Air Force is a photo of a flight jacket armband. This badly worn armband silently tells the story of his blue-sky powerhouse’s pursuit of pushing boundaries and flying into battle.
“Future wars will be decided quickly. The flight scale must be pushed from the ‘pass line’ to the ‘limit value’, in line with actual combat standards! ” Representative Wang Wenyi showed reporters the achievements of the past year: high-intensity cross-day and night confrontation along the coast, with the number of daily flight hours per aircraft reaching new highs; in complex electromagnetic environments, the third generation of aircraft successfully completed the verification of the extreme penetration of new weapons..
“At first, some people questioned: Will it be too risky? My answer is: There is no ‘safe’ on the battlefield.” Representative Wang Wenyi recalled a scene of a dawn attack. That day, clouds were low, visibility was extremely low, and ground guidance was severely limited.“‘ In blind flight’, you must rely on instruments to maintain the formation and resist strong electromagnetic interference. If you only dare to draw a route in ‘10,000 meters of clear sky’ in peacetime, you will be hit in ‘low clouds and thick fog’ in wartime and your head will be bloodied!” Representative Wang Wenyi said firmly.
“‘Liftoff is combat, takeoff is assault’—— This is the iron rule we set. Not only do we need to take our fighter jets to new heights, but we also need to hone our combat effectiveness in extreme environments!” Representative Wang Wenyi’s words expressed the common voice of military representatives and deputies: Only by seamlessly connecting the training ground to the battlefield can we transform “the limit” into “the extreme” and truly seize the winning heights of the future battlefield.
“The countdown has begun to achieve the goals of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army as scheduled. Time is of the essence and the task is arduous, so we must make every effort to overcome it!” When talking about extreme training, Representative Hou Changling from the Rocket Force has a bright eye.
That year, his unit quickly transitioned to “wartime status” as new and old equipment changed.“ Loading, testing, lighting, everything is done as it should be!” Representative Hou Changling still remembers vividly the scene when he encountered a severe sandstorm for decades during his cross-regional training. That time, they overcame environmental factors and operated accurately, setting a record for shooting accuracy in bad weather!
“Missiles must not only ‘hit out’, but also ‘hit accurately, hit hard, and win’. ” Representative Hou Changling’s tone was sonorous. “Please rest assured, Party and people, the ‘Heavenly Sword’ in our hands can be unsheathed at any time!”
“War does not allow us to choose our opponents, and the battlefield does not allow us to choose the weather and environment. ” Representative Luo Yu from the front line of the border defense told reporters that “Snowland Plateau, the temperature sometimes drops to more than -40 degrees Celsius. In the past, there have been cases of playing in the face of severe cold ‘retreating’ and lowering standards; now, we stipulate that all tactical courses must truly set the battlefield as real, the opponent as strong, the environment as dangerous, and the difficulties as sufficient!”
From “training what to take” to “filling in what is missing”, from “wandering at a low level” to “making new strides every year”, extreme training “weather vane” is forging a strong steel team that can win battles.
★ New domain and new quality plan for breakthroughs
Representative Xu Fengcan from the Army has a wonderful video of an ultra-low-altitude penetration saved on his work computer——
Several attack helicopters used terrain cover to launch raids, launching missiles to accurately destroy the “enemy” armor center, and the group immediately approached the ground and hid in the radar blind spot.
“This is not only a breakthrough in equipment capabilities, but also a breakthrough in the concept of breaking through the flat battlefield and forging ‘three-dimensional iron fist’. ” Representative Xu Fengcan introduced that in the past it was “play whatever you want”, and now it is “develop whatever abilities you play”. In recent years, they have paid close attention to cutting-edge technologies such as drone swarm networks, helicopter laser anti-missile, and manned and unmanned coordination, and have continuously deeply integrated new technologies into the force’s combat system. The goal is to achieve combat effectiveness in ultra-low-altitude penetration, promote the transformation of land and aviation forces from support and support to main combat assault, and ensure that they become a “three-dimensional iron fist” that tears apart the defense line on the future battlefield.
“Silent victory is the submariner’s mission! ” Representative Zhang Hongxing from the Navy’s submarine force gave a vivid picture of his understanding of new-quality combat capabilities.
During a drill, “Blue Army” deployed “dragnet” and “Red Army” submarines, using the thermocline as cover, ghostly crossed the anti-submarine network. At a critical moment, saturation attacks severely damaged “enemy” ship formations..
Representative Zhang Hongxing said: “This drill is an innovation in combat concepts, concealment and damage capabilities. It used to be said ‘to be able to go out and come back’, but now it is even more important ‘to be able to hide, play accurately, and run fast’. Our pursuit is to silently demand combat effectiveness to the limit and make the weapons in our hands become the deep sea ‘the magic needle of the sea’!”
“In modern warfare, whoever masters advanced technology masters the ‘life gate’ on the battlefield. ” A committee member from the Information Support Force and a reporter shared a personal story: a new piece of equipment was once “bottlenecked”. At that time, the Party member commando team “challenged and led” fought day and night and finally broke through the barriers, doubling the performance of the equipment.
“To seize ‘the commanding heights’, one must dare to venture ‘no man’s land’ and be willing to sit ‘cold bench’. Over the years, seeing the new equipment bring back combat power, the joy in my heart is unparalleled!” The Commissioner’s pride is palpable.
As a key force in winning future battlefields, new-quality combat effectiveness is related to the direction of war, construction transformation, and combat victory or defeat. Military representatives and deputies said that in order to seize the commanding heights of new territory and new quality and forge sharp swords to defeat the battlefield in the future, the People’s Army is leading the changes in war with changes in science and technology, and seeking opportunities to win battles with new capabilities, laying a solid foundation for winning the future.
Think about change and prepare for construction
■Guo Fengkuan
At the beginning of the Two Sessions, “accelerating the construction of advanced combat capabilities” became a hot topic among military representatives and deputies. Everyone held discussions and exchanges around the themes of “what will be needed on the battlefield in the future, what will be relied upon to win the war, and what will be practiced based on the current situation”. The construction of advanced combat capabilities plays an important role in changing the winning mechanism of war, enriching combat styles and scenarios, and traction of high-tech weapon manufacturing. To continuously improve the strategic ability to defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests, we need to deeply grasp the internal logic of the generation of advanced combat capabilities, systematically sort out the specific methods and paths to accelerate the construction of advanced combat capabilities, and focus on thinking about changes, construction, and preparations for advanced combat capabilities.
In today’s world, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating breakthroughs, and the world’s new military revolution is accelerating. Strategic high-tech technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, and quantum technology are competing to burst forth. The widespread use of science and technology in the military field has caused profound changes in the form of war and combat methods, and is increasingly becoming an important factor in determining the victory or defeat of war.
At present, the evolution of war forms is showing many new trends, and intelligent features are more prominent. Some new technical equipment has formed a dimensionality reduction strike posture against traditional equipment. New-quality combat forces represented by strategic early warning, information control, algorithmic attack and defense, unmanned intelligence, etc. are increasingly becoming an important factor influencing the trend of modern warfare. Under the guidance of military intelligence, new-quality combat forces continue to give birth to combat types with higher efficiency and better quality. Advanced combat capabilities are increasingly becoming a powerful force driving the world’s new military revolution.
Accelerating the construction of advanced combat capabilities is not only an integral part of promoting high-quality national defense and military modernization, but also an important means to achieve the goals of the centenary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army as scheduled. Only by adjusting and optimizing the military force system, accelerating the development of new combat forces, increasing the training of new military talents, and solidly promoting practical military training, and focusing all work on being able to fight and win battles, can the vitality of combat effectiveness elements burst forth and promote the construction of advanced combat effectiveness to a new level.
The combat effectiveness factor is the decisive factor in the rise and fall of the army, and the combat effectiveness standard is the only fundamental standard for army construction. New-quality combat effectiveness is the product of revolutionary breakthroughs, innovative configurations, and creative application of innovation-driven combat effectiveness elements. It represents the development direction of advanced combat effectiveness and is the “sword” and “tip” that wins future wars. We must grasp the characteristics and laws of the generation of new-quality combat effectiveness, adhere to the principle of self-reliance, start from reality, vigorously promote independent innovation and original innovation, create a new-quality combat effectiveness growth pole, and provide strong strategic support for achieving the goals of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army as scheduled and accelerating the construction of the People’s Army into a world-class army.
Emerging fields are fertile ground for incubation
Science and technology are the most dynamic and revolutionary factors in military development. Emerging fields are new strategic spaces and key technology fields that emerge with the advancement of science and technology and the expansion of the scope of human activities. They naturally have extremely strong value attributes such as timeliness, strategy, cutting-edge, and disruption. This also determines that emerging fields have many special advantages that traditional fields do not have. Technology is the core combat power, and new-quality combat power fundamentally comes from the innovation and application of technology. The continued advancement of the materialization and embodiment of key core technologies in emerging fields will have a profound impact on the construction of weapons and equipment, innovation in combat styles, adjustment of organizational systems, and the evolution of war forms. It will achieve innovative configuration and optimized combination of weapons and equipment, combat styles, and personnel, and promote new development and breakthroughs in combat effectiveness construction It provides good conditions and soil for liberating and developing new-quality combat capabilities, becomes an important incubator, accelerator, and multiplier for new-quality combat capabilities, and promotes the evolution of combat capabilities to a new quality state that is higher, more advanced, and has greater comparative advantages. Therefore, we must comprehensively enhance strategic capabilities in emerging fields, coordinate the development of forward-looking strategic emerging industries, place scientific and technological innovation in a more prominent position, open up a direct channel for the transformation of new quality productivity into new quality combat effectiveness, and build a new quality combat effectiveness innovation chain, growth chain, and killing chain that is compatible with the development of emerging fields Create a good ecology that relies on strategic emerging industries to liberate and develop new-quality combat effectiveness, continuously improve the contribution rate of scientific and technological innovation to the development of new-quality combat effectiveness, and achieve efficient integration and two-way promotion of new-quality productivity and new-quality combat effectiveness.
Military innovation is kernel driven
“Those who fly far away should replace their feathers.” To focus on innovation is to focus on development, and to seek innovation is to seek the future. Innovation is the primary driving force leading development and an accelerator for generating and improving combat effectiveness. For an army, only by daring to change and reshape itself, and bravely fighting against the current and chasing the tide can it win the future battlefield. World-class armies need to achieve material and technological casting and reshaping in construction and reform, and even more so, they need to achieve ideological sublimation and transformation in the practice of war and preparation for war. Military innovation has become an important strategy for many countries and militaries to seek competitive advantages. It has become a key variable in the success or failure of the game between major powers and the life and death of the military, and a powerful driving force for the liberation and development of new-quality combat capabilities. Therefore, we must promote innovation culture, optimize the innovation environment, create an innovation atmosphere, vigorously promote and encourage the pursuit of excellence, leading trends, and unremitting exploration, promote the innovative spirit that keeps pace with the times, strive to stimulate the innovative potential and innovative vitality of the vast number of officers and soldiers, make military innovation a value orientation, a way of thinking, and a living habit, and build an innovative army. We must resolutely overcome all forms of adherence to the norm, adherence to established ideas, and conservative practices, actively promote innovation in military theory, military technology, military organization, and military management, and vigorously promote all-round innovation from weapons and equipment to combat training, from theoretical research to the application of tactics, from systems and mechanisms to talent training, so that military innovation can be ahead of war and ahead of the adversary Use innovation to drive combat effectiveness from “quantity” value-added to “quality” leap.
Scientific theory is the leader in development
Scientific military theory is combat effectiveness. The generation of new-quality combat capabilities undoubtedly depends on advanced science and technology. However, new quality combat effectiveness is essentially the product of advanced military technology and advanced military theory “marriage”. In future wars, the realization of the potential of new-quality combat effectiveness will depend on whether there are new breakthroughs in the corresponding military theories and whether the corresponding combat theory system can be effectively established. On the one hand, new-quality combat effectiveness has shifted from the past “technology-driven” based solely on scientific and technological progress to a new track that pays more attention to “design-driven” based on the traction of military theoretical innovation. Only in this way can new vitality and vigor be injected into the liberation and development of new-quality combat capabilities. On the other hand, the generation and development of new-quality combat power is the product of the innovative development of material power. To make good use of this product and occupy the commanding heights of future wars, we must rely on ideological leaps to promote innovation in combat methods and elevate the application of new-quality combat power to a higher level. Just as mechanization encounters “blitzkrieg” and its power multiplies, the organic unity of material and ideological forces can constitute the king of victory. Therefore, we must grasp the general trend of world development and military development, proactively respond to national security risks and threats of war, continuously adapt to new situations, respond to new challenges, and solve new problems, boldly explore in practice, dare to break through in theory, give military theory scientific and technological wings, capture the “singularity ”“ inflection point” of cutting-edge strategic technological development, and accelerate the modernization of military theory Form a military theoretical system that is contemporary, leading and unique, and provide scientific theoretical support for the liberation and development of new-quality combat capabilities.
The talent pool is the determining factor
The way to strengthen the army is to gain people. Strong talent leads to strong new-quality combat effectiveness, and prosperous talent leads to prosperous new-quality combat effectiveness. The talent team is a valuable strategic resource for liberating and developing new-quality combat effectiveness. People, weapons and the way people and weapons are combined are the basic forms of the composition of combat effectiveness elements. The factor that determines the victory or defeat of a war is that people are not things. People are the most active and decisive factor in combat effectiveness, and new-quality combat effectiveness places higher demands on the thinking, knowledge and skills of military talents. When the capabilities and qualities of personnel and the overall structure of personnel cannot adapt well to the changes in combat effectiveness connotation and the requirements of the transformation of combat effectiveness generation mode, shortcomings will be formed in the combat effectiveness system and combat effectiveness activity will be reduced. Today, information-based and intelligent talents have become an important resource and determining factor in leading the development of new-quality combat effectiveness. Therefore, we must adapt to the accelerated evolution of modern warfare towards intelligence, face the world’s military frontier, face the major needs of national security, face national defense and military modernization, and face the formation of integrated joint combat capabilities. We must thoroughly implement the strategy of strengthening the military with talents in the new era, firmly establish the concept that talent resources are the first strategic resource, build a new type of military talent system, accelerate the modernization of military personnel, and promote the capabilities, quality, structural layout, We will comprehensively transform and upgrade development and management, forge high-quality, professional new military talents with both moral integrity and talent, build a strong talent team in various aspects such as joint combat command talents, new combat force talents, high-level scientific and technological innovation talents, and high-level strategic management talents, and better play the leading and supporting role of talents in liberating and developing new-quality combat capabilities.
Weapons and equipment are the material basis
“Pistol Battle Victory Sword”, this is the universal law of war. Weapons and equipment are the main symbol of the division of war forms, an important symbol of the modernization of the army, the material and technical basis of combat capabilities, and directly affect the level of combat effectiveness. In modern warfare, the influence of weapons and equipment on the outcome of war is becoming increasingly prominent. When the scientific and technological revolution comes, especially when a large number of scientific and technological innovation results emerge and are widely used in the military field, the emergence of new weapons and equipment based on these scientific and technological innovation results will bring about a revolutionary transformation of the weapons and equipment system. A new quality combat capability based on this new weapons and equipment system will also be generated, leading to the overall transformation and upgrading of combat capability Achieve a leap in combat effectiveness. It can be said that new-quality combat capability is the combat capability generated by the combined effect of various new types of weapons and equipment. Therefore, designing weapons and equipment means designing future wars, and weapons and equipment construction is a systematic project that integrates technology, funding, and management. Therefore, we must deeply understand and grasp the characteristics and laws of modern warfare, deeply grasp the contemporary connotation and characteristics and requirements of weapons and equipment construction, actively adapt to changes in the world, the times, and history, actively adapt to changes in science and technology, war, and adversaries, accurately identify changes, respond scientifically, and actively seek changes, accelerate the modernization of weapons and equipment, accumulate advantages in innovative breakthroughs, and compete with strong enemies in catching up Accelerate the development of new weapons and equipment to provide strong material and technical support for the liberation and development of new-quality combat capabilities.
Structural formation is the key bearing
Structure determines function, and function determines success or failure. The organic combination of war resources is the power source and amplifier for the exercise of power; whoever can combine combat elements into a whole that is more adapted to the new war environment can exert stronger combat effectiveness. Without the advantages of military organization, even with the most advanced technology and weapons, it is difficult to gain an overwhelming winning advantage. Especially driven by the collective explosion of contemporary science and technology, the liberation and development of new-quality combat effectiveness urgently requires profound changes and adjustments in the organizational form of the military, and promotes the integrated design, coordinated development, convenient flow, networked sharing, systematic integration, and efficient utilization of military talents, equipment, theory, technology, data, management and other factors, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of resource allocation. The main form of new-quality combat power is formed through the integration of network information systems. Moreover, the contribution of each combat element is no longer a simple linear superposition relationship. Comprehensive perception is the prerequisite, like a human eye; real-time accusations are the key, like a human head; precision strikes are the center of gravity, like a human fist; and full-dimensional protection is the foundation It is like a person’s self-defense; focusing on protection is the lifeblood, like a person’s energy supplement. Therefore, to promote the modernization of organizational forms and realize the scientificization of combat organization, we must shift from organizing according to the functions of the military services to integrating according to combat functions, and transform the combat system from integrating unit functions to aggregating factor energy. We must get rid of the model of simple superposition and mechanical coordination of combat forces “physical”, and instead pursue organic integration and efficient aggregation “chemical” Thus creating a new combination with new quality combat capabilities.
Education and training are the basic path
Dynamic evolution is the basic law for the generation of new-quality combat effectiveness. Without strict education and training, there will be no new-quality combat effectiveness. Education and training are the basic path for generating and improving combat effectiveness. They are the basic way to transform the potential combat effectiveness formed by personnel quality and weapons and equipment into real combat effectiveness. They are also the central link in liberating and developing new-quality combat effectiveness. When new combat equipment is put into service, people often only have a preliminary understanding of its new functions. Greater use value and stronger combat effectiveness must be discovered and explored in actual combat confrontation exercises. Compared with traditional combat forces, new-domain and new-quality combat forces have more complex combat platforms, more special energy release mechanisms, and more regulatory relationships involved in battlefield operations, requiring the mastery of new control techniques. Only when each position has skilled weapons and equipment control skills can it be skilled and courageous and maximize the effectiveness of the weapon system; only when each command personnel truly masters the method of close connection and smooth coordination of various systems and elements can they command and control with ease. Science and technology provide effective means of education and training, especially contemporary scientific and technological innovation, which promotes the closer integration of the two elements of people and weapons. Therefore, we must strengthen scientific and technological training, explore ways to empower military training methods such as “intelligence+”“network+”, strengthen simulation, combat testing, etc., and explore and understand the widest scope of battlefield application, the best formation and focusing method, and the greatest confrontation ability effect in adapting to the battlefield “game rules” from breaking to reconstruction Shorten the generation cycle of new quality combat power.
Strategic management is an important guarantee
“Hold the position and set your sights on it; hold the foundation and set your sights on it. ” The liberation and development of new-quality combat capabilities is a complex systematic project and an era project “starting with technology and achieving success through management”. Only by strengthening strategic management and grasping its inherent systematicity, correlation and coordination can we advance it as a whole, cultivate “one-finger Zen” into “iron fist”, and achieve twice the result with half the effort. On the one hand, liberating and developing new-quality combat capabilities involves many aspects, including military theory, organization system, weapons and equipment, talent construction, comprehensive support, etc. It requires integrating the wisdom and achievements of many related fields such as strategic experts, military experts, technical experts and engineering experts, so as to ensure the integrity of the multi-dimensional perspective and top-level design of problem research. On the other hand, the construction of new-quality combat capabilities has many types, a large time span, and wide resource requirements. It is necessary to properly handle the relationship between military demand and resource supply, near-term emergency response and long-term development, and local adjustment and overall advancement. In addition, the continuous emergence of new needs, new knowledge, new experience and new technologies will inevitably affect our understanding of new quality combat effectiveness. To this end, we must strengthen strategic management, follow the laws of technological development, and pay more attention to intensive and efficient development. Focus on improving top-level design, starting from different types of forces, tasks at different stages, and contradictions and problems, refine the specific development plan one by one, formulate and improve a clear development roadmap, and achieve precise planning, precise planning, precise deployment, precise implementation, and precise testing to avoid directional errors, structural chaos, and process loss of control; focus on making good use of incremental resources, integrating existing resources, and revitalizing idle resources, Improve the efficiency of resource utilization, transform resources into combat effectiveness to the greatest extent possible, prevent and put an end to inefficient, low-quality and low-level repeated construction, and ensure that the construction of new-quality combat effectiveness advances rapidly along the right direction and path.
China Military Network and Ministry of National Defense Network
Sunday, May 10, 2026
This newspaper reports (by reporter Fan Enda and special correspondent Qi Xucong): New artillery pieces sharpen the plateau, drones patrol the skies, data links are connected across the entire region, and fire units precisely lock onto the “enemy”… Not long ago, on the plateau training ground, a brigade of the Tibet Military Region focused on generating new combat capabilities and carried out various training exercises in an orderly manner.
New forces are rapidly joining the ranks, new equipment is constantly being deployed, and new tactics are being implemented continuously. In recent days, reporters visited several training grounds on the plateau front and saw that various units are focusing on actual combat needs, continuously innovating training concepts, upgrading training methods, and reshaping the training landscape. A vibrant picture of military training and preparation is unfolding, and new combat capabilities are rapidly accumulating and being generated on the plateau front.
From “waiting for instructions” to “seizing the opportunity,” officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion of a Rocket Force brigade abandoned traditional training methods and conducted more than 10 combat-oriented training courses in a continuous, track-like manner, consciously pursuing and practicing the spirit of the plateau rocket troops with the belief that “every second faster means a greater chance of victory.” From “passive adaptation” to “active adaptation,” an Air Force unit, in combination with the special plateau environment, specifically modified the key systems of its fighter jets, accurately matching the characteristics of the plateau and the actual mission, and focusing on refining courses such as extreme maneuverability, low-altitude penetration, and ground attack, maximizing the combat potential of the equipment.
Upgrading training methods and leveraging technology to activate a “new engine” for combat effectiveness. Inside a simulated training chamber, soldiers of a regiment of the Xinjiang Military Region “drive” equipment vehicles across the high plateau, with weather, time of day, and road conditions changing randomly, immersing themselves in honing their combat skills. On the training ground of a detachment of the Tibet Armed Police Corps, infrared drones conduct aerial reconnaissance and precise positioning, while intelligent robot dogs launch assaults. Unmanned equipment is deeply integrated with individual combat, building a solid and efficient security barrier through intelligent training. Various units are exploring new paths to generate new combat capabilities, continuously promoting the new “intelligent+” training model, and pushing plateau training towards intelligent and refined training.
At a certain location, the Gambala radar station of an air force unit utilized technological means to achieve a remote, controlled duty mode, with soldiers’ positions lowered more than a thousand meters. No longer distracted by harsh environments, they can devote more energy to combat readiness and combat capability enhancement, routinely conducting network-based combat exercises and live-fire training, resulting in a significant improvement in the unit’s rapid mobility and early warning capabilities.
Reshaping the training landscape and fostering systemic collaboration to generate new momentum for victory. An air force unit actively integrated into the system, engaging in confrontations with visiting fighter jet units and sparring with various types of drones. They honed their anti-interference skills through electromagnetic warfare and continuously improved their combat capabilities through repeated realistic training exercises. A brigade of the Xinjiang Military Region regularly conducted joint exercises and training with neighboring air force units, streamlining command and control, sharing air situation data, and achieving full-element coordinated firepower strikes and integrated counterattacks. All units abandoned the concept and practice of “fighting alone,” proactively breaking down barriers between services and removing obstacles to collaboration, thus promoting overall quality improvement and comprehensive efficiency enhancement in the generation of new combat capabilities.
Once, this snowy plateau was a daunting “forbidden zone of life”; now, it has become a “training ground” for troops to deepen and solidify their training and combat readiness. Through numerous exercises and assaults, the troops stationed on the plateau are targeting the laws governing the generation of new combat capabilities, constantly breaking down conventional thinking, and making solid efforts towards innovation and strength, exploring methods and paths to liberate and develop new combat capabilities. “Although it’s high-altitude, oxygen-deficient, and the environment is harsh here, our confidence in winning battles is growing stronger!” said a plateau soldier.
The reason why outstanding professional athletes can maximize their physical capabilities compared to ordinary people lies in the fact that long-term scientific training strengthens their bones, removes excess fat and bulges their muscles, and achieves a perfect proportion and coordination of the body’s functional elements. Similarly, those armies that can dominate the battlefield and fully exert their combat effectiveness are all powerful forces that have achieved an optimized combination of military force systems in their respective eras.
“Military tactics are ever-changing, just as water has no fixed shape.” Since its inception, the People’s Liberation Army has continuously innovated its force structure in response to changes in the situation and tasks and the needs of actual military struggles. In particular, the several major streamlining and reorganizations since the reform and opening up have promoted the continuous optimization of the PLA’s size, structure, and force composition, effectively liberating and developing its combat capabilities.
“Standard systems cannot meet the demands of change, and one approach cannot address all situations.” Faced with the rapidly evolving nature of warfare in the world today and the new requirements for the expansion of the PLA’s missions and tasks, the shortcomings and weaknesses in the PLA’s force structure have once again become prominent. Problems such as excessive size and scale, imbalance in major proportions, insufficient proportion of new combat capabilities, and low degree of modularization and integration of troops have become bottlenecks affecting and restricting the improvement of the PLA’s combat capabilities and its ability to win future battlefields.
In matters of the world, “what must be seized is the momentum, and what must not be missed is the opportunity.” Only by assessing the situation and seizing the moment can one “easily gain advantage.” The world today faces unprecedented changes. The rapid development of global technological and military revolutions has historically converged with the deepening of my country’s efforts to strengthen its military. Changes in warfare, technology, and the overall landscape of struggle are profoundly impacting national security and military strategy. The historical responsibility of reshaping and rebuilding the PLA’s force structure, and constructing a modern military force system with Chinese characteristics capable of winning informationized wars and effectively fulfilling its missions, has been placed before the People’s Liberation Army.
The system determines the structure and function. The composition of the military’s force system determines the size of the military’s energy and the form, scale, and effect of releasing that energy in the appropriate time and space. The Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and President Xi Jinping, after careful consideration and decisive decision-making, comprehensively launched reforms to the size, structure, and force composition of the military, undertaking a holistic and revolutionary reshaping of the PLA’s force system. This strategic deployment is a crucial step in rationally allocating and optimizing the PLA’s force system, gaining the initiative in future fierce military competition by “strengthening its muscles and bones.”
“One part planning, nine parts implementation”—the restructuring of the PLA’s force system has been rapidly and steadily unfolding. The total number of officers has decreased, with a batch of civilian personnel or soldiers in brand-new uniforms filling the original officer positions, thus optimizing the officer-to-soldier ratio. The number of active-duty personnel in regimental-level and above organs has been significantly reduced, resulting in a marked optimization of the ratio between organs and troops, and between combat and non-combat units. Despite the reduction in the overall size of the military, the number of personnel in combat units has increased rather than decreased, making the “muscle” stronger. The size of the army has been reduced, with traditional branches and outdated equipment units being repurposed for new combat forces, optimizing the structure of the services and increasing the proportion of new combat capabilities, making the “skeleton” stronger. With a more streamlined size, more scientific organization, and more optimized layout, the PLA is continuously transforming from a quantity-oriented to a quality- and efficiency-oriented force, and from a labor-intensive to a technology-intensive force. The organization of troops is developing towards being more robust, integrated, multi-functional, and flexible, and a joint combat force system with elite combat forces as its main body has been basically formed.
The reshaping of the force structure has unlocked the full potential for combat effectiveness, enabling the PLA to take solid steps toward achieving the Party’s goal of building a strong military under the new circumstances. This provides a stronger guarantee for effectively safeguarding my country’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, and for making greater contributions to maintaining world peace and stability.
With sails hoisted high, the People’s Liberation Army embarks on a journey across vast oceans. Reborn and transformed, the People’s Liberation Army will surely achieve new leaps forward on the path to building a strong military with Chinese characteristics and stride towards an even more glorious future!
Functional Orientation of the Modern Combat System with Chinese Characteristics
Key Points
● The coexistence, iterative development, dynamic evolution, and integrated development of multiple generations of mechanization, informatization, and intelligentization constitute the historical context of national defense and military construction in the new era, and also represent the historical position of building a modern combat system with Chinese characteristics.
● Traditional and non-traditional security threats are intertwined, and various strategic directions and security fields face diverse real and potential threats of local wars. This requires our military to abandon old models such as linear warfare, traditional ground warfare, and homeland defense warfare, and accelerate the transformation to joint operations and all-domain operations.
The report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed that, standing at a new historical starting point and facing the demands of building a strong country and a strong military, “we should build a modern combat system with Chinese characteristics.” This is a strategic choice to adapt to the rapidly evolving nature of warfare, to thoroughly implement Xi Jinping’s thought on strengthening the military, to comprehensively advance the modernization of national defense and the armed forces, and to aim at building a world-class military. Among these choices, the grasp of the functional orientation of the modern combat system with Chinese characteristics greatly influences the goals, direction, and quality of its construction.
Seize the opportunities of the times and take the integrated development of mechanization, informatization and intelligentization as the historical orientation.
The combat system is the material foundation of war and is closely related to the form of warfare. In today’s world, a new round of technological and industrial revolution is brewing and emerging. Original and disruptive breakthroughs in some major scientific problems are opening up new frontiers and directions, prompting human society to rapidly transform towards intelligence, and accelerating the evolution of warfare towards intelligence. Currently, our military is in a stage of integrated mechanization and informatization development. Mechanization is not yet complete, informatization is being deeply advanced, and we are facing both opportunities and challenges brought about by the intelligent military revolution. The new era provides us with a rare historical opportunity to achieve innovative breakthroughs and rapid development, and also provides a rare historical opportunity for our military’s combat system construction to achieve generational leaps and leapfrog development.
A new era and a new starting point require establishing a new coordinate system. The coexistence, iterative development, dynamic evolution, and integrated development of multiple generations of mechanization, informatization, and intelligentization constitute the historical context of national defense and military construction in the new era, and also the historical position of building a modern combat system with Chinese characteristics. We should accurately grasp the historical process of the evolution of warfare, the historical stage of the combined development of mechanization and informatization, and the historical opportunities brought about by intelligent warfare. We must prioritize the development of military intelligence, using intelligence to lead and drive mechanization and informatization, coordinating mechanization and informatization within the overall framework of intelligent construction, and completing the tasks of mechanization and informatization development within the process of intelligentization. We must focus on top-level design for military intelligence development, researching and formulating a strategic outline and roadmap for military intelligence development, clarifying key areas, core technologies, key projects, and steps for intelligent development, and accelerating the construction of a military intelligent combat system. We must achieve significant progress as soon as possible in key technologies such as deep learning, cross-domain integration, human-machine collaboration, autonomous control, and neural networks, improving the ability to materialize advanced scientific and technological forces into advanced weaponry and equipment, and providing material conditions for building a modern combat system.
Emphasizing system-on-system confrontation, with the development of joint operations and all-domain operations capabilities as the core indicators.
Information-based local wars are characterized by integrated joint operations as their basic form, with network support, information dominance, and system-on-system confrontation as their main features. The combat capability generation model is shifting towards a network-based information system. Currently and for some time to come, my country’s geostrategic environment remains complex, with traditional and non-traditional security threats intertwined. Various strategic directions and security domains face diverse real and potential threats of local wars. Simultaneously, with the expansion of national interests, the security of overseas interests is becoming increasingly prominent, requiring the PLA to abandon old models such as linear warfare, traditional ground warfare, and territorial defense warfare, and accelerate its transformation towards joint operations and all-domain operations.
The report of the 19th CPC National Congress pointed out that “enhancing joint operational capabilities and all-domain operational capabilities based on network information systems” is a new summary of the PLA’s operational capabilities in the new era and a core indicator for building a modern operational system with Chinese characteristics. We should actively explore the characteristics, laws, and winning mechanisms of modern warfare, and proactively design future operational models, force application methods, and command and coordination procedures to provide advanced theoretical support for building a modern operational system with Chinese characteristics. Following the new pattern of the Central Military Commission exercising overall command, theater commands focusing on combat operations, and services focusing on force development, we should adapt to the new joint operational command system, the reform of the military’s size, structure, and force composition, highlighting the network information system as the core support, and building an operational system capable of generating powerful joint operational capabilities to fully leverage the overall power of the various services and branches. With a view to properly addressing various strategic directions and traditional and non-traditional security threats, ensuring the PLA can reliably carry out various operational missions, we should build an operational system capable of generating powerful all-domain operational capabilities, achieving overall linkage across multiple battlefields and domains, including land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace.
Focusing on real threats, the strategic objective is to gain an asymmetric advantage over the enemy.
The world today is at a new turning point in the international situation, with strategic competition among major powers taking on new forms and the struggle for dominance in the international and regional order becoming unprecedentedly fierce. The specter of hegemonism and power politics lingers, and some countries are intensifying their efforts to guard against and contain China. my country’s geostrategic environment is becoming increasingly complex, with multiple destabilizing factors, facing multi-directional security pressures, and an increasingly complex maritime security environment. All of these factors contribute to increasing the dangers and challenges to national security.
Effectively responding to real military security threats is a crucial strategic task in our military preparedness and a strategic direction for building a modern combat system with Chinese characteristics. We should focus on keeping up with technological advancements, vigorously developing advanced equipment, and striving to avoid creating new technological gaps with potential adversaries. This will provide solid material support for the construction of our combat system. Simultaneously, we must emphasize leveraging the PLA’s long-standing principles of flexibility, mobility, and independent operation, capitalizing on our strengths and avoiding weaknesses, targeting the enemy’s vulnerabilities and weaknesses. We should not simply compete with the best in high-tech fields, but rather focus on deterring the enemy and preventing war. We must accelerate the development of asymmetric counterbalancing mechanisms, strengthen the construction of conventional strategic means, new concepts and mechanisms, and strategic deterrence in new domains, supporting the formation of a new combat system with new deterrent and combat capabilities. We must not fear direct confrontation, preparing for the most complex and difficult situations, and building a combat system capable of providing multiple means, forces, and methods to address diverse war threats. This will ensure that, in the event of conflict, the comprehensive effectiveness of the combat system is fully utilized, guaranteeing victory in battle and deterring further war through war.
Promoting military-civilian integration and using the national strategic system to support winning the people’s war in the new era is a fundamental requirement.
The deepest roots of the power of war lie within the people. The concept of people’s war is the magic weapon for our army to defeat the enemy. Modern warfare is a comprehensive confrontation of the combined strength of opposing sides, involving political, economic, military, technological, and cultural fronts. Various armed forces are closely integrated, and various forms of struggle are coordinated with each other. The role and status of civilian technology and civilian forces in war are increasingly important, which further requires integrating the national defense system into the national economic and social system and striving to win the people’s war in the new era.
Leveraging the power of military-civilian integration to support the fight against people’s war in the new era with the national strategic system is a fundamental requirement for building a modern combat system with Chinese characteristics. We must deeply implement the national strategy of military-civilian integration, deeply integrate the construction of our military’s combat system into the national strategic system, utilize national resources and overall strength to achieve a continuous leap in combat effectiveness, and maximize the overall power of people’s war. We must focus on strengthening military-civilian integration in emerging strategic fields, actively seize the commanding heights of future military competition, and continuously create new advantages in people’s war. We must incorporate the military innovation system into the national innovation system, strengthen demand alignment and collaborative innovation, enhance independent innovation, original innovation, and integrated innovation capabilities, and proactively discover, cultivate, and utilize strategic, disruptive, and cutting-edge technologies to provide advanced technological support for building a modern combat system. We must also focus on the in-depth exploitation of civilian resources, strengthen the integration of various resources that can serve national defense and military construction, prevent duplication and waste, self-contained systems, and closed operations, and maximize the incubation effect of civilian resources on the construction of a modern combat system.
(Author’s affiliation: Institute of War Studies, Academy of Military Sciences)
Joint operations are the basic form of combat in modern warfare. They emphasize the strength of more than two services and arms and other participating forces, and jointly implement operations in multi-domain space under unified command. “Single domain” and “multidomain” interdependence and interaction in joint operations are a pair of important military categories. Grasping the relationship between single domain and multi-domain is the core content and key to solving the “internal interface” problem in the construction and application of joint combat forces. The relationship between the two should be viewed dialectically and correctly handled, and the winning mechanism of joint operations should be continuously enriched to promote joint operations. Really achieve cross-domain integration, energy gathering and efficiency improvement.
“Single domain” is the constituent element and development basis of “multi-domain”
Joint operations emphasize the formation of advantageous multi-domains based on advantageous single domains, and place higher demands on the coupling relationship between each single domain that makes up the multi-domain. The development of a single domain can provide a solid foundation for the development of multiple domains and create prerequisites for achieving cross-domain integration.
In terms of historical process, single domain to multi-domain is the process of domain expansion. Throughout human history, the wars of each era have applied the techniques of their own era, imprinted the imprint of their own era, and developed with the time and space of the war. War in the agricultural era, with cold weapons as the main military equipment, battlefield fighting is mainly limited to land and offshore waters. It is a lower-level “full contact” war, and the combat domain is relatively single, making early operations “loose” Joint characteristics.
Entering the industrial era, with the invention and use of steam engines and internal combustion engines, air combat weapons represented by combat aircraft appeared on the battlefield. The combat space broke through the limitations of land and sea areas, forming a three-dimensional battlefield between land, sea and air. The war turned “semi-contact”, making joint operations take on “cooperative” joint characteristics. Entering the information age, the combat space breaks through the three-dimensional geographical space and forms a multi-domain integration of land, sea, air, space, electricity, network, and cognitive fields, making joint operations present multi-domain “integrated” characteristics. With the development of single domain to multi-domain, single-domain control rights such as land control, sea control, air control, heaven control, and information control have continued to appear, and the subsequent importance of single-domain control has continued to increase, promoting the connotation of multi-domain control. Expanding and changing, the competition for comprehensive control has become the first priority in the confrontation between ourselves and the enemy.
In terms of development form, single domain to multi-domain is a process of clustering into a network. Restricted by technical conditions and other constraints, combat activities before the information age, whether in terms of battlefield time, battlefield space, or the deployment and use of combat forces, have clear sections between single domains and clear levels of action at all levels, showing a strong Sequential and progressive, showing a single-domain chain development form.
Entering the information age, under the full “adhesion” of the network system, the multi-domain force formation develops from “combination” to “convergence”, forming an elastic structure with spatial dispersion and deployment, time coordination, and multi-dimensional energy release. According to the battlefield situation and changes in the situation, combat activities use the network information system as a “link” to connect the “links” of the combat single domain into a “network” shape, forming the focus of similar strong points and complementary advantages, and realizing each single domain “shape and spirit gathering” and “gathering fingers into fists”, The transition from single-domain chain to multi-domain network was achieved.
In terms of performance index, single domain to multi-domain is a process of energy aggregation and efficiency. Both opposing sides in the war tried to exert their overall combat power in order to achieve combat victory. However, due to the clear boundaries and loose connections of each single domain in the past, improving the overall combat power can only be achieved through the linearity “superposition” of each combat domain. With the development of information technology and intelligent technology, especially the widespread application of information systems in the military, the network information system realizes the command and control of each single domain force and can seamlessly link each combat domain. Each combat force maximizes The advantages of spatial multidimensionality and power diversity have been realized, and the strength and strength of each single domain and each level have been realized The high degree of integration, multi-dimensional cohesion, overall linkage and integrated energy release in terms of means and actions has achieved the effect of complementary advantages, synergy and cohesion, which is conducive to achieving a comprehensive advantage or local overwhelming advantage over the enemy.
“Multi-domain” is the direction-dominant and powerful dominance of “single-domain”
The essence of the winning mechanism of joint operations lies in cross-domain integration to achieve excellence and efficiency, which requires that single domain and multi-domain must be functionally “unified in the same direction”. “Multi-domain” stipulates the status and role of each single domain in combat. Each single domain must start from the overall functional needs of joint operations, focus on providing the ultimate contribution rate to the combat system, and achieve synchronous cross-domain maneuvering, cross-domain coordination, and cross-domain strike, to achieve system advantages in overall confrontation. Currently, the multi-domain dominates and dominates the single-domain in the direction of forming a resultant force with the system mainly from the following aspects.
Transition of multidomain operational requirements to hybrid war threats. At present, conventional threats are expanding and unconventional threats are becoming new and present threats, with the boundaries between regular and irregular battlefields tending to be blurred, between combatants and non-combatants and between physical and virtual dimensions. Joint operations are still the basic form of operations, but specific combat styles show a trend towards combining multiple styles. Various threats from traditional or non-traditional, formal or informal, high-intensity or low-intensity exist on land, sea, air, space, electricity, network, cognition and other multi-domains. These threats add a new dimension to the concept of war. Therefore, it is necessary not only to do a good job in the fight against a single threat, but also to develop the ability to integrate into multi-domain operations to deal with hybrid warfare.
The focus of multi-domain operations shifts to the network information system. Several informatization local wars that have broken out in recent years have shown that no war, no alliance, no alliance, no victory, the network information system that condenses various single-domain combat elements has become the focus of operations, and the combat command information system that gathers the combat power of the network information system has become the main basis for military operations “nerve center” and has become the key point for opponents to attack. The degree of integration of command and information systems is getting higher and higher, and the command systems of each single domain must converge and move closer to the overall command system, so as to achieve system integration of various services and combat units and deep coupling of various combat elements. In line with this, the information domain, the cognitive domain, and the electromagnetic domain, as emerging fields of warfare, have increased in their core status and importance, and have increasingly become the core operational domains for opposing sides to compete for control, becoming capable of causing enemy “blind, incapacitated, and mentally retarded” key operational domains. Therefore, each single domain must strengthen its ability to organically integrate into the network information system within the framework of a unified standard system and achieve interconnection and interoperability between each single domain, so as to ensure that it provides basic support in multi-domain precision warfare and thus wins overall advantages.
Transformation of multi-domain combat forces into joint combat units. Integrated joint operations have the characteristics of platform operations, system support and tactical operations, and strategic support. Strategic-level planning, campaign-level command, and tactical-level operations will become the norm in future wars. Large-scale corps operations may become increasingly rare and will be replaced by joint battles more often on multi-domain battlefields. The joint combat unit will bring together various single-domain combat forces and cover various combat elements. The level of the joint is reflected in the tactical level, presenting an independent combat capability that includes early warning and reconnaissance, information support, combat command, multi-domain attack and defense, combat support and other elements. Joint tactical unit form. Each “single-domain combat force” has a closer coupling relationship, and its own characteristics and advantages will become more prominent.
Accelerate the expansion of “single-domain advantages” to “multi-domain advantages”
For the dialectical unity of a single domain and a multi-domain, we must not only see the unity of a multi-domain, but also respect the independence of a single domain; we must neither completely oppose the two, nor erase the connection between them. In view of the actual situation of combat opponents, combat environment, own strength, etc., and taking into account various political, economic, technological, cultural and other factors, we should accelerate the expansion of “single-domain advantage” to “multi-domain advantage”, so as to form an information advantage, decision-making advantage and operational advantage against the enemy.
First, we must consolidate and expand the advantages of single domain.“ Metcalfe’s law ” tells us that increasing a network entity is capable of producing nonlinear exponential convergence of the combat power of the system. Multi-domain operations are deeply integrated system operations. As the basic element of multi-domain existence, the strength of each single domain’s construction will definitely affect the effectiveness of multi-domain integration. The essence of forming a multi-domain advantage is to deeply aggregate the advantages of each single domain. It is necessary to continuously strengthen the construction of single domain capabilities to form a single domain advantage and limit the opponent’s strength advantage to the limit. In fact, consolidating and expanding the advantages of single domains is not only to enhance single domain performance, but also to serve the purpose of multi-domain convergence. Single-domain construction requires strengthening top-level design, formulating standards and specifications, and striving to overcome conflicts caused by different combat construction concepts formed by the unique combat styles and combat culture of different services. At the same time, it is necessary to coordinate all military construction resources and focus on the development of multi-domain combat weapon platforms to meet the overall needs of joint operations, rather than just the needs of each single domain itself.
Second, we must promote the achievement of cross-domain synergy. Cross-domain synergy emphasizes breaking the boundaries between services and arms and integrating combat forces across services, arms and institutions. Based on the network information system, the combat forces in each domain are distributed in a wide area, and the multiple domains are linked as a whole to complement each other’s advantages and increase efficiency, and quickly gather energy step by step, promoting the expansion of single-domain advantages into multi-domain integration advantages and system advantages, and forming a concentrated energy strike against important enemy targets. In “joint operations”, combat forces in various fields must not only have the ability to independently perform a variety of combat missions, but also need to use their own cross-domain perception, target recognition and strike capabilities to support or even directly participate in other combat domain operations.
3. “Flexible mobile combat application is required!”. The winning mechanism of joint operations lies in the rapid and continuous integration of multi-domain combat forces to form multiple advantages and immediate advantages in specific time windows, forcing the enemy into passivity, disadvantage and dilemma. For the use of single-domain and multi-domain forces, such as the use of fingers and fists, whether it is “pointing points with hands” or “clenching fingers into fists”, or even the mutual transformation and use in combat, we must adhere to seeking truth from facts and comprehensively consider the efficiency of combat effects. Scientifically make decisions based on factors such as efficiency and contribution to the victory of war, and effectively use troops according to circumstances, location, and situation. If the single-domain combat force can solve the problem well, it is no longer necessary to use multi-domain combat forces, thereby improving operational effectiveness.
Cognition is the basis for operational decisions and operations. Cognitive warfare is a confrontation activity carried out in the cognitive domain. The purpose is to attack the enemy’s knowledge system, social consciousness, people’s morale, etc., disrupt its judgment and decision-making, and cause it to lose its decision-making advantage and action advantage. To deepen the research on cognitive warfare and decipher the cognitive warfare code, the key is to embed the combat decision-making chain and explore how to influence and interfere with the cognitive activities of the enemy’s decision-making chain, causing the enemy to form false observations, wrong judgments and poor decisions, so as to fully control Cognitive initiative.
Seeing is false, changing the facts
Observation is the starting point of cognition. No matter what kind of war, when facing any opponent, the first step is observation. The observation here is a broad concept and is about all activities to obtain all relevant information about the hostile party. Just as people perceive external things through sensory organs, observation relies on the battlefield perception system to obtain relevant data and information from the battlefield environment according to the needs of the subject, providing “ source material ” for judgment and decision-making. Observation uses intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance and other activities to obtain as much factual information and materials from all aspects of the enemy as possible and convert them into text, images, audio, video and sensor signals.
The history of war at home and abroad in ancient and modern times shows that the essence of command is the endless pursuit of certainty, including the status and intentions of enemy troops, various factors affecting the combat environment such as weather and terrain, as well as the status and actions of one’s own troops. Therefore, efficient command consists in clarifying each element and then coordinating it as a whole to achieve the best combat effect. Human judgment and decision-making are easily disturbed by information uncertainty. In the observation stage, the key to cognitive warfare is to make the enemy unable to clearly observe, incompletely observe, and distort the information of their own combat elements, and lack real information or accurate understanding, thereby weakening the enemy’s decision-making on combat at the source. The pursuit of certainty.
Measures for observing cognitive warfare, in addition to common information warfare methods, such as disguise, interference, deception, silence, etc., should also pay attention to the following aspects: First, create complex situations. War is inherently full of complexity. By creating complexity, it increases the fog and resistance on the battlefield, making it impossible for the enemy to observe the real specific situation. For example, by creating various events and operations in multi-dimensional combat areas such as land, sea, air, sky, and network, and making irregular changes, it can effectively increase the difficulty of enemy observation. The second is to interfere with observation and cognition. Observation is not aimless. It is carried out based on a certain cognition. Cognition determines what information needs to be observed, what kind of reconnaissance activities need to be carried out, etc. For example, during observation activities, by interfering with operations, the enemy’s attention in observation activities is affected, causing it to lose the ability to focus on essential issues and key issues, thereby making it unable to obtain key information. The third is to shape the factual narrative. Shaping factual narratives is to reformulate, combine, arrange, and reconstruct facts according to the needs of cognitive warfare. These facts are either created out of nothing, highlight certain details in the facts, or are difficult to verify and test, making their observation materials Mixed with fictional facts, the observed facts are far from objective facts. The fourth is to protect specific knowledge. Knowledge protection is an important aspect of cognitive warfare. The main contents include: commander’s decision-making style, combat theory reasoning process, premises and assumptions, key tactical ideas and combat principles, key decision-making procedures, mechanisms and methods, information analysis methods, especially some algorithms, passwords, etc.
Targeting the judgment, misleading the judgment
On the battlefield, simple observation and data collection do not make much sense. Only by analyzing these data “ by looking at the essence of the phenomenon, and then drawing various judgments, will we promote the formation of operational decisions. For example, during the Battle of Moscow in World War II, the Soviet Union had a lot of and messy information about the Japanese Kwantung Army. Finally, after careful analysis, it was concluded that “ the Soviet Union could be considered safe in the Far East, and the threat from Japan had been ruled out ” After the judgment, it was decided to transfer troops from the Far East to Moscow to participate in the Battle of Moscow. Judgment is the corresponding conclusion reached by analyzing and reasoning the observation results, which mainly includes: first, factual judgment, usually expressed in descriptive language, such as the current situation, enemy battlefield deployment, battlefield posture, etc.; second, value and relationship judgment, usually Expressed in evaluative language, such as threat assessment, correlation analysis, trend prediction, etc.
Judgment cognitive warfare is actually a game surrounding judgment. Normally, judgments arise on the basis of a judgment, without which there would be no conclusion of judgment. Whether a person has high blood pressure or diabetes is often based on some medical indicators, and these indicators are the criteria. The premises and assumptions of reasoning are actually based on judgments. “ Persian cat story ” circulated in World War I. Judging from the location of the command post from a Persian cat, it contains a series of judgments: there is no village around, and it cannot be a cat raised by ordinary civilians; the sound of artillery on the battlefield is rumbling, and it cannot be It is a wild cat that is cautious and avoids people; Persian cats are a valuable breed, and the position of cat owners is not low; cats appear at fixed times every day, and the command post should be near cats. Therefore, interfering with judgment is to target the judgment to design and produce information products so that the facts obtained do not match the judgment, or to minimize the leakage of information related to the judgment, so that the enemy cannot judge or make wrong judgments.
The main contents of the interference criterion are: First, the interference is based on experience. Based on enemy experience, create “ virtual facts ” to make errors in judgment. For example, in the Battle of Maling, Sun Bin halved the stove to lure Pang Juan, which is a typical example. Because according to experience, the number of stoves is directly proportional to the number of troops. Halving the number of stoves every day means that the number of people is decreasing. The possibility of reduction is that the soldiers have suffered greater casualties, which leads to the judgment of weakening combat power. The second is to interfere with the judgment based on the knowledge system. Such knowledge includes the enemy’s common sense, concepts, principles and some assumptions. For example, in the Fourth Middle East War that broke out in October 1973, Israel’s initial defeat was a misjudgment of the war situation. It believed that as long as its air force was still in an advantageous position, the other side would never dare to attack. However, Egypt began to adopt new military technology and used mobile surface-to-air missiles to support an air defense network, partially offsetting Israel’s air superiority. The third is to interfere with judgments based on universal culture. That is, design corresponding information and actions based on the enemy’s cultural characteristics so that they can be misjudged due to cultural differences. According to foreign information, during the Cold War, the United States studied the root causes of “ Soviet behavior, so it started from culture and behavior to induce the Soviet Union to make strategic misjudgments. The fourth is to interfere with methodological-based judgments. Generalizations, analogies, etc. are the basic methods of judgment. Cognitive interference based on methodology makes it difficult for the other party to understand facts and cannot be compared with known facts; complicating the causal relationship and confusing factual cause and effect, psychological cause and effect, conditional cause and effect, social cause and effect, etc., making it impossible to implement causal judgment; reducing possible signs and phenomena, making it impossible to see through the essence and make accurate judgments.
Focus on the process and influence decision-making
Operational decision-making is based on combat purposes and intentions. After observation and judgment, various factors are combined to derive the optimal solution to the problem. War or conflict behavior has game, competition and confrontation attributes, so decision-making is a game. Decisions address key issues such as whether to do it, how to do it, what purpose to achieve, or the state of termination. In information-based local wars, action-centeredness gradually replaces planning-centeredness, requiring an increase from data center warfare, information center warfare, and knowledge center warfare to decision-making center warfare. Combat decision-making has become one of the main areas of competition between the enemy and ourselves.
Decision-making cognitive warfare is to target enemy cognition and interfere with the decision-making process to affect the quality and efficiency of decision-making. Decision-making is affected by the knowledge structure of the decision-maker himself. If cognition is paranoid or the knowledge reserve is outdated, even if the judgment is correct, good decisions will still not be made. The decision-making process includes the application and change process of knowledge structure, which mainly involves procedural knowledge and conceptual principled knowledge. The former includes decision-making procedures and methods, decision-making mechanisms and evaluation methods, etc., while the latter includes understanding of battlefield posture, winning mechanism, combat concepts, combat rules, and weapons and equipment performance. Therefore, cognitive attacks on the decision-making process will greatly affect its decision-making speed and quality.
The main ways to influence cognitive warfare in decision-making are: First, squeezing the cognitive decision-making space. When watching tennis matches, commentary on non-forced errors and forced mistakes are often heard, with forced mistakes being those caused by putting pressure on the opponent. Interfering with the cognitive decision-making environment is to put pressure on the enemy’s cognitive decisions, thereby squeezing the cognitive space and weakening cognition to force the enemy to make mistakes in decision-making. For example, through virtual and real decision-making activities and actions, the opponent is trapped in decision-making difficulties, which increases the probability of low-level decision-making. The second is to attack rational cognition. Including: First, interfering with the understanding of threats and opportunities. Many examples of failures in military history are caused by misjudgment of threats and opportunities on the battlefield. Whether you despise the enemy or overestimate the enemy, you will form decision-making expectations that are different from objective reality, leading to adverse action results. Second, attack combat theory and doctrine. For example, by proposing the theory of mutual restraint, deliberately exaggerating the loopholes in the enemy’s doctrine, and amplifying the adverse effects of the enemy’s combat operations, the enemy can arouse doubts about its own theory and doctrine. Third, for procedural knowledge. Including decision-making mechanisms, procedures and methods, plan evaluation and combat evaluation methods, auxiliary decision-making systems, algorithms, thinking, etc. Attacking the weaknesses present will also cause decision-making errors. The third is to interfere with irrational factors. The use of irrational factors often creates decision-making traps, such as groupthink traps, conceit traps, etc., which have a significant impact on decision-making. The strategic deception successfully implemented by the Allied forces many times during World War II was to use the enemy’s ambiguous and misleading analysis to increase the probability that the wrong decision would win.
System “Gathering Excellent War” It is “systematic warfare in information warfare. It does not necessarily refer to a certain combat style, but is composed of multiple combat styles and tactics” “combination boxing”, or combat style group . Emphasizes that, depending on the combat mission, combat opponent and the changing battlefield situation, any appropriate means and style of combat can be used flexibly to form combat advantages as long as it is conducive to forming comparative advantages and achieving system victory. In the specific implementation process of “system-based superior warfare”, these specific combat styles and operational tactics can not only be organized and implemented separately as part of joint all-domain operations, but also emphasize fighting “combination boxing”, using multiple strategies simultaneously, and winning as a whole.
In order to better understand its core connotation, this article lists Nine typical combat styles including overall deterrence warfare, electromagnetic disturbance warfare, network penetration warfare, and cognitive control disturbance warfare And analyze . System “Juyouzhan” ――combination boxing that flexibly uses multiple combat styles“ 1. Overall deterrence war: Emphasis on multi-domain joint deterrence; Three elements should be present in the implementation of an overall deterrent war ; Strong overall strength is central to achieving effective deterrence 2. Electromagnetic Disturbance Warfare : The key to competing for information advantage; On the combined means approach, information empowerment is achieved through “connection + sharing” ; Crack down on effective tactics for unmanned cluster operations 3. Cyber-sabotage: Soft “kill” is the main focus, combining soft and hard, focusing on breaking the net and reducing energy failure 4. Cognitive scrambling: Control the cognitive power of situational awareness and compete for information advantage; control the decision-making power of command and compete for decision-making advantage; control “brain” power and seize the advantage of brain control 5. Agile mobile warfare: High-efficiency and rapid decision-making; high-efficiency formation of a favorable combat situation; high-efficiency and instant gathering of combat forces; agile mobile warfare is an innovative development of traditional mobile warfare 6. Swarm autonomous warfare: It is conducive to forming a system advantage to suppress the enemy; it is conducive to enhancing the combat effect; it is conducive to falling into the enemy’s combat dilemma 7. Point-and-kill War: Achieving an efficient cost ratio for operations; targeting key nodes is an important option; large-scale system support is a basic condition; it is inseparable from precise intelligence support 8. Supply-breaking: The supply guarantee chain has a huge impact on the overall combat situation; the center of gravity of the attack is a key node in cutting off the enemy’s supply guarantee chain; the focus is on choosing the right time and making full use of tactics 9. System “paralysis battle:” The objectives of the operation are to make the enemy combat system run out of order; to strike the key nodes of the combat system with heavy blows; and to carry out soft strikes against the enemy combat system For learning reference only, welcome to communicate and correct! Article views do not represent the position of this body The concept of combat was first proposed as a new combat style. Innovative combat styles are a core element in the development of combat concepts. It can be said that system-gathering battle is a general term for a series of specific tactics. The following nine typical combat styles constitute the tactical system of system-gathering and superior warfare. They are: One is Overall deterrence warfare, actively organize static power display and deterrence actions in system excellence battles, and strive to defeat others without fighting or small battles; Two is Electromagnetic disturbance warfare uses various combat methods and action styles such as electronic detection, attack and defense to disrupt, prevent and destroy the enemy’s electromagnetic capabilities, actively compete for the advantages of the electromagnetic spectrum, seize the right to control information, and then win the initiative in combat; Three is In cyber attack warfare, various means such as soft strikes and hard destruction are used to defeat the enemy’s command network, intelligence network, communication network, logistics supply network, and disrupt the enemy’s command and support; Four is Cognitively Controlled Disturbance. Form a controlling advantage in the cognitive space through information attacks, public opinion attacks, and brain attacks; Five is Agile mobile warfare. Quickly adjust the deployment of troops and weapons, quickly gather capabilities on the battlefield, and seize combat opportunities; Six is Swarm autonomous warfare. Extensively use unmanned combat methods such as “bee swarms”, “wolf swarms”, and “fish swarms” to independently organize actions and distributed attacks to achieve joint human-machine victory; Seven is Pointkill. Accurately obtain intelligence, carry out multi-domain precision strikes, strive to shake the overall situation with one point, and maximize combat benefits; Eight is Supply-breaking. Organize an elite force to attack enemy logistics supplies and equipment supply supply chains, supply lines and supply bases, defeat the enemy and lose supplies and withdraw from the battle; Nine is System “paralysis battle”. A variety of means, such as breaking the net, exercising, and hitting nodes, are used to interfere with, delay, destroy, or even paralyze the effective operation of the enemy’s combat system and weaken its functions.
1. Overall deterrence Overall deterrence warfare refers to actively organizing static power display and deterrence actions in the system’s battle for excellence, and striving to defeat others without fighting or small battles. Sun Tzu said: “Subduing one’s troops without fighting is a good thing.” Deterrence and war are the two main forms of military activity. And “deterrence” is mainly the act of showing determination and will to potential opponents by showing strength or threatening to use strong strength to deter opponents from action. It can be said that the overall deterrence war in the system-based battle of excellence is an important means or tactic to achieve the goal of “stopping” human troops without fighting. Clausewitz emphasized that the first rule of strategy is to be as strong as possible, first in general, and then in key locations. Modern warfare is system-to-system confrontation. The overall deterrence war under informationized local warfare requires not only traditional deterrence methods and capabilities on land, sea, air and space, but also new deterrence methods and capabilities such as space deterrence, electromagnetic deterrence, and network deterrence. It also requires an overall deterrence that shows the overall strength of the country. Especially with the rapid development of advanced technologies such as information technology, the technological revolution, industrial revolution, and military revolution have accelerated their integration, and strategic competitiveness, social productivity, and military combat effectiveness have become more closely coupled. Winning the information war is to a greater extent a contest between the will of the country and the overall strength of the country. To contain the war, we must first act as a deterrent to our opponents in terms of overall strength.
1.1 Emphasis on multi-domain joint deterrence Means of deterrence typically include both nuclear and conventional deterrence. In the “system-based battle for excellence”, the overall deterrence war is implemented, aiming to comprehensively use conventional deterrence methods across the land, sea, air and space power grids to achieve the purpose of deterrence. Especially with the application of information network technology and space and directed energy technology in the military, space, networks, electromagnetic weapons, etc. have become new means of deterrence. Space deterrence, It mainly uses equipment such as rapid response electromagnetic orbit weapons, space-to-ground networked anti-navigation and positioning service systems, large elliptical orbit laser weapons, and high-power microwave weapons to threaten and attack the opponent’s space targets and form a deterrent against enemy space information “interference blocking”. Cyber deterrence mainly uses cyberspace situational awareness and attack equipment to threaten and attack the opponent’s military network and other critical information infrastructure to achieve deterrence against the enemy. Electromagnetic deterrence mainly uses electromagnetic spectrum combat systems to threaten and attack enemy detection, navigation, communications and other information weapons and equipment systems to achieve deafening and blinding deterrence against the enemy.
1.2 The implementation of overall deterrence should have three major elements Implementing an overall deterrent war and achieving the desired effect of deterrence usually requires three main elements: One is strength. The deterrent must have the reliable ability or strength to frighten and fear the opponent; the second is determination and will. The deterrent party must dare to use this capability when necessary; third, to transmit information clearly. The deterring party must make the ability to act and the determination clearly known to the other party accurately and effectively.
Historically, the criteria for judging deterrent strength have varied in three main ways: First, the active military force; second, the combined national strength or war potential; and third, the total number of main battle weapons and equipment. For quite a long period of history, the number of troops was deterrence, and the strength of military strength depended directly on the size of the active military, the amount of vital weapons and equipment, and non-material factors such as the morale of the army’s training organization. After the twentieth century, with the expansion of the scale of warfare, deterrence power has become less limited to the strength of the military and the quantity of vital weapons and equipment, but is determined by the nation’s war potential, which includes economic power, scientific and technological power, energy resources, and even population size, among others. The overall deterrence war in the system’s “gathering and excellence war”, the formation of its deterrence strength is mainly based on the network information system, as well as the joint global deterrence capability formed under the integration of the system.
1.3 Strong overall strength is the core of achieving effective deterrence The development of information technology and its widespread penetration and application in the military sector provide favourable conditions for building overall strength and achieving overall deterrence. System “Juyouzhan” is supported by the network information system, making full use of the permeability and connectivity of information technology, not only integrating various combat forces, combat elements, and combat units into an organic whole, realizing the military system combat advantages, but also integrating Various fields related to war and national mobilization, such as national politics, economy, diplomacy, finance, transportation, and energy, are connected and integrated into the national war mobilization system Gather all forces and resources to form an overall synergy, realize the emergence effect of system capabilities, show the overall strength advantage, and form a powerful invisible deterrent of united efforts and sharing the same hatred Create a situation that makes the enemy “powerful but unable to act ”“able to act but ineffective”, and play a role in containing and winning the war. In the “overall deterrence war”, the scope of national war mobilization will be wider, not limited to a certain direction or region, but throughout the country and even the relevant regions of the world; mobilization time will be faster, and using networks and information systems, mobilization and action information can be quickly transmitted to everyone and every node at the first time; action coordination and synergy will be more consistent, and all forces distributed in various regions can be based on the same situation Under the same order, the operation is unified at almost the same time, which greatly improves the efficiency of operational synergy; resources are more fully utilized, and various war resources based on the Internet can quickly realize the conversion between peacetime and wartime, military-civilian conversion, and achieve integrated front and rear guarantees and precise guarantees.
2. Electromagnetic Disturbance Warfare Electromagnetic disturbance warfare refers to the flexible use of electronic detection, attack and defense and other combat methods and action styles to disrupt, prevent and destroy the enemy’s electromagnetic capabilities, actively compete for the advantages of the electromagnetic spectrum, seize information control rights, and then win operational initiative.
2.1 The key to competing for information advantage Informatization local warfare is highly dependent on the electromagnetic spectrum, the Control and counter-control of electromagnetic space have become the focus of competition for information rights. Organize and carry out electromagnetic obstruction warfare, mainly to destroy the enemy’s electromagnetic spectrum and protect one’s own side from destruction. The electromagnetic spectrum is the main carrier for transmitting information. The use of electromagnetic means to disrupt the enemy’s electromagnetic spectrum will effectively reduce the enemy’s information combat capabilities and enable our own side to ensure the rapid and effective flow of information in the scenario of ownership of information rights, driving command flow, action flow, and material flow through information flow, energy flow, and then have the dominance and initiative in combat.
2.2 The basic focus is to implement electromagnetic disturbance warfare in the battle to deactivate the enemy’s combat system. It is mainly aimed at the enemy’s dependence on electromagnetic space. At the same time, in order to ensure its own effective use of electromagnetic space, it organizes various electronic reconnaissance and interference, attack, defense and support forces to attack enemy communication networks, radar networks, computer networks and command centers, communication hubs, radar stations, etc Computer network nodes, global navigation and positioning systems, space link systems such as the “Heaven and Earth Integrated Internet”, and various other frequency-using weapons and equipment carry out interference and attacks, block and destroy their communication and data transmission, and destroy the enemy’s combat system. “Connection” and “sharing” structural center of gravity provide support for seizing information control and electromagnetic control from the root, thereby weakening the enemy’s command and control capabilities Deactivating and disabling the enemy’s entire combat system.
2.3 Crack effective tactics for unmanned cluster operations “Unmanned autonomous group operations such as swarms ”“wolves ”“fishes” are important features of information-based local warfare with intelligent characteristics. The various unmanned autonomous clusters are large in number, diverse in type, and complex in characteristics, and each individual can complement each other and play a role in replacing each other. It will be very difficult to intercept and damage the entire unmanned cluster. However, from a technical point of view, for unmanned combat clusters to achieve effective synergy, each individual must share and interact with each other. Once the communication coordination between unmanned clusters is interfered with, it will be impossible to share battlefield posture and information, and will not be able to coordinate actions with each other, making it difficult to achieve the combat effectiveness it deserves. This gives the other party an opportunity to implement interception of communications and electromagnetic interference. Therefore, the implementation of electromagnetic spectrum warfare, interference and attacks on the information and communication networks of unmanned clusters, and the destruction of their information sharing and interaction will make it impossible for each individual in the unmanned cluster to achieve effective synergy and thus lose its operational capabilities.
3. Cyber-sabotage Cyber-blowout, It refers to military confrontation operations that comprehensively use technologies such as networks and computers and other effective means to control information and information networks. It is a major combat style of cyberspace operations and competition for network control. Its main combat operations are both soft-kill and hard-destroy, focusing on soft and combining soft and hard. Among them, soft kill is mainly a cyber attack, that is, it comprehensively uses blocking attacks, virus attacks and other means to block and attack enemy information networks, command systems, weapon platforms, etc., making it difficult for enemy networks, command information systems, etc. to operate effectively or even paralyze; hard destruction mainly uses precision fire strikes, high-energy microwaves, electromagnetic pulses, and anti-radiation attacks to paralyze and destroy enemy information network physical facilities Destroy enemy combat and weapons and equipment entities. The important thing is to “break the net and reduce energy failure”. Organizing a cyber attack in a “system-based battle of excellence” is to target the weaknesses of the combat opponent’s military information network, use the advantages of the system to organize various cyber attack forces, and conduct combat command networks, reconnaissance intelligence networks, communication networks and even logistics throughout the entire operation. Supply networks, etc., continue to carry out soft killing and hard destruction operations to destroy the enemy’s network system The overall function of the enemy’s combat system is reduced or even disabled. It mainly targets core targets such as the enemy’s basic information network, intelligence network, command network, and support network, and implements a series of combat operations such as network-to-electronics coordinated attacks, deception and confusion, link blocking, and takeover control, so that the enemy’s intelligent combat network system becomes incapacitated and ineffective, achieving a critical victory that paralyzes the enemy system.
4. Cognitively Controlled Disturbance Warfare Cognitive interference control war refers to interfering with, destroying or controlling the enemy’s thinking and cognition through information attacks, public opinion attacks, and brain attacks in the system optimization war, so that the enemy cannot make correct judgments and decisions, thereby controlling the enemy in cognitive space. form a controlling advantage. Cognitive domains, That is, “human thinking space and consciousness space are areas that have a critical impact on combat decision-making and judgment”. The development of information technology, especially artificial intelligence technology, and its widespread application in the military field have expanded the battle of war from physical space and information space to cognitive space, making cognitive space a completely new combat domain. With the development of information and intelligent technology and its widespread and in-depth application in the military field, the Human-machine intelligence tends to converge This has made the status of cognition in intelligent warfare more prominent, and the cognitive field has gradually become an important battlefield. The right to control cognition has become a key element of future battlefield control. Fighting for cognitive control has become an important combat style for winning information-based local warfare operations with intelligent characteristics.
4.1 Control the cognitive rights of situational awareness and compete for information advantages In the system’s “excellence battle”, information flow drives the flow of matter and energy, and information advantage determines decision-making advantage. Rapid and accurate knowledge of intelligence information and battlefield situations has an important impact on seizing command and decision-making advantages. Therefore, when organizing and implementing system-based battle gathering, we must make full use of intelligent technology and big data technology to conduct comprehensive analysis and judgment on massive intelligence information data, mine and extract the required intelligence information, and achieve more accurate and faster understanding of battlefield situations and combat environments. Cognition ensures that the enemy is discovered first and the enemy is recognized first from the source. While removing one’s own side “the fog of war”, create “the fog” for the opponent. Therefore, in order to compete for cognitive rights, we must not only control and process information before the enemy, but also take measures such as online public opinion attacks and high virtual reality chaos to actively create and spread false information, disrupt and disrupt the perception and cognition of hostile battlefield situations, maximize confusion and increase uncertainty, interfere with the opponent’s combat decisions, and delay its combat operations.
4.2 Control and command decision-making power and compete for decision-making advantages Decision strengths determine action strengths. Quick decision-making by the commander is the key to shortening “the command cycle” and achieving quick wins. The organizational system focuses on excellent combat, and the success or failure of combat operations depends largely on the speed of the commander’s decision-making. It is necessary to “use intelligent auxiliary decision-making systems, select the best combat plans, scientifically and rationally allocate combat resources, and maximize combat effectiveness; use ubiquitous intelligent networks to access required combat nodes and combat platforms at any time to build and form an integrated combat system.” Achieve decentralized deployment of power, information, and capabilities, cross-domain linkage, form advantages at locations and times required for operations, gather energy to release energy, and gather advantages to win; Implementation “core attack”, Errors or deviations in the enemy’s command decisions are caused by hacking into the other party “chip”, tampering with its programs, and command and decision system algorithms.
4.3 Control “brain” power and seize the advantage of brain control Cognitive interference control warfare in the system’s “gathering excellence war” emphasizes “attacking the heart and seizing the will”, that is, using network warfare, electromagnetic warfare and other methods to control the enemy’s human brain and consciousness cognition as well as the control system of the unmanned autonomous platform “attacking the heart Cognitive control warfare to control the brain and seize ambitions” Replace “destroy” with “control”, To achieve the goal of stopping and winning the war at the minimum cost. Attacking the heart and controlling the brain is different from traditional strategic deterrence. It places more emphasis on active attack. It is an active attack operation that mainly uses advanced information combat technology, brain control technology, etc. to attack the enemy’s decision-making leader, as well as intelligent unmanned autonomous combat platforms, auxiliary decision-making systems, etc., carry out controlled “brain” attacks, directly control and disrupt the opponent “brain”, influence and control the enemy’s decision-making, or disable it Enable stealth control of enemy combat operations. For example, “Targeting human cognitive thinking, using brain reading and brain control technology, and using mental guidance and control methods to directly carry out “inject ”“invasive” attacks on the brains of enemy personnel, interfering with, controlling or destroying the cognitive system of enemy commanders.”, deeply control it from the perspective of consciousness, thinking and psychology, seize “control intellectual power”, disrupt the enemy’s decision-making, destroy the enemy’s morale, and force the enemy to disarm.
5. Agile Mobile Warfare Agile mobile warfare refers to the efficient decision-making, efficient adjustment of troop deployment and high-efficiency real-time gathering of combat forces in systematic battle, efficient gathering of capabilities on the existing battlefield, and seizing combat opportunities. Agility is the ability to respond quickly and timely to changes in the battlefield environment. It has the characteristics of responsiveness, robustness, flexibility, elasticity, innovation and adaptability.
Table 1 Connotation of the concept of agile warfare
5.1 Efficient and fast decision-making To implement agile and mobile warfare, we must first make efficient and rapid decisions to win operational opportunities. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively use various means of reconnaissance, detection, perception and surveillance to obtain battlefield posture and target information in a timely manner, especially characteristic information, activity trajectories and real-time position information of time-sensitive targets, so as to ensure precise intelligence support for rapid decision-making. Efficient decision-making is also reflected in the speed of intelligence processing. It takes less time to screen effective intelligence information, formulate action plans at a faster speed according to changes in circumstances, and seize the initiative and seize the opportunity with one step ahead. High-efficiency decision-making focuses on shortening the decision-making cycle, taking the target time window as the central point, and integrating decision-making command with combat units and weapon platforms, rapid response, and overall linkage to improve combat efficiency.
5.2 High efficiency forms a favorable combat situation It is necessary to “keep abreast of changes in the battlefield situation at any time, rely on the support of information networks, and achieve dynamic reorganization of combat forces and integration during movement through cross-domain, cross-dimensional, and diversified three-dimensional maneuvers. Combat resources flow efficiently throughout the region and gather during movement to achieve mobility and excellence.”, forming a favorable battlefield situation. Agile mobile warfare relies on data fusion processing, intelligent assisted decision-making and other means to quickly form combat plans, quickly project combat forces at a high frequency according to the case, organize troops to quickly form favorable combat deployments, and realize enemy discovery, enemy decision-making, and enemy fire, first enemy assessment, change the balance of power in the shortest time and fastest speed, form combat advantages, and improve the efficiency of combat operations.
5.3 Efficient and instant gathering of combat power To organize agile mobile warfare, the key is to select the right combat force within a limited time, coordinate the entire battle situation, and form an overall synergy to ensure a fatal blow. Therefore, in response to changes in battlefield posture, especially target situations, it is necessary to draw up groups to form a joint mobile combat system formed by multi-domain combat forces, gather combat forces in real time, deploy quickly and mobilely to a favorable battlefield, and carry out real-time strikes against the enemy. For deep space, deep sea, etc. to become a new combat space, an intelligent unmanned autonomous combat platform can be organized Rapid mobility is deployed to lurk near key targets or important passages that are difficult for humans to reach due to physiological limitations, and ambush operations are carried out on standby, creating new cross-domain checks and balances.
5.4 Agile mobile warfare is an innovative development of traditional mobile warfare In the history of both ancient and modern warfare at home and abroad, there have been numerous examples of successful battles that relied on rapid covert maneuvers to achieve combat objectives. However, the combat process of information-based local warfare has been greatly compressed, the combat rhythm has accelerated rapidly, and fighter aircraft are fleeting. It has put forward higher requirements for fast mobile capture fighters. It is difficult to meet the requirements of joint operations and all-area operations under information conditions alone “fast pace, high speed”. requirements, so agile mobility must be implemented.
6. Unmanned cluster autonomous warfare Unmanned cluster autonomous warfare refers to the widespread use of unmanned combat methods such as “bees”“ wolves ”“fishes” in system optimization warfare to independently organize actions and distributed attacks to achieve joint human-machine victory. With unmanned autonomous equipment becoming the main combat force on the battlefield, defeating the enemy with unmanned autonomous equipment clusters and numerical superiority has become an important combat style in information warfare.
6.1 It is conducive to forming a system advantage to suppress the enemy Unmanned cluster independent warfare gives full play to the special advantages of unmanned combat weapons such as all-weather, unlimited, difficult to defend, and low consumption, and builds and forms large-scale unmanned combat clusters or formations such as unmanned “bee swarms”“ wolves ”“fish swarms”, and organizes independently, mutual coordination, can implement close-range and full-coverage reconnaissance, or act as bait to interfere or deceive, or cooperate with main battle weapons to implement distributed coordinated attacks Enable overall mobility and joint control of the enemy.
6.2 Conducive to enhancing combat effectiveness In “unmanned cluster autonomous operations”, different combat units within the unmanned cluster organization are responsible for different functions and different tasks, including those responsible for reconnaissance, those carrying out electromagnetic interference and fire strikes, and those playing “decoy” roles. Clusters transmit and share battlefield information through inter-group networks, perform their respective duties according to the division of labor, and collaborate in real-time, independently, and dynamically according to battlefield changes. They not only give full play to their advantages in quantity and scale, but also use information networks and intelligent integration technology to achieve integration effects, using cluster advantages to consume enemy defense detection, tracking and interception capabilities, rapidly saturating and paralyzing the enemy’s defense system.
6.3 Conducive to getting into enemy combat difficulties Unmanned cluster autonomous warfare uses a large number of autonomous unmanned combat platforms with different functions to form an unmanned combat cluster integrating reconnaissance and detection, electronic interference, cyber attacks, and fire strikes. It can carry out multi-directional and multi-directional operations against the same target or target group. Multiple, continuous attacks will make it difficult for the enemy to make effective counterattacks.
7. Pointkill Battle “Precise point-killing warfare” refers to accurately obtaining intelligence in system-based battles, implementing multi-domain precision strikes, striving to shake the overall situation with one point, and maximizing combat benefits. Informationized local warfare is an overall confrontation between systems. Implementing precise point-killing warfare and precise strikes on important nodes and key links of the enemy’s combat system will destroy the enemy’s combat system and reduce enemy combat capabilities, which will achieve twice the result with half the effort. Combat effect.
7.1 Achieve efficient combat cost ratio Achieving maximum combat effectiveness at the minimum cost is a goal pursued by both sides of the war. With the widespread application of information technology in the military field and the advent of information warfare, precision-guided weapons, intelligent kinetic energy weapons, integrated surveillance and attack drones, and laser weapons are widely equipped with troops; through the use of big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies, it has become possible to accurately calculate the required troops and weapons. These all provide material and technical conditions for achieving precision point kill warfare, achieving operational objectives at a lesser cost, and achieving operationally efficient fee ratios.
7.2 Targeting key nodes is an important option The key to precise point-killing battles is to hit the key points and nodes. If you don’t hit, it will be enough. If you hit, it will be painful. If you hit, you will win. If you hit a point, you will break the enemy’s system and shake the overall situation. The target of the strike is not limited to the enemy’s dispersed deployment of ships and aircraft, but should also be targeted at local, dynamic, time-sensitive targets or independent targets such as enemy command centers, important hubs, and even major generals and commanders, in pursuit of deterrence, shock and enemy-breaking system effects. It will also be an effective countermeasure to use precision strike fire to carry out “point-kill” strikes in response to the distributed tactic of decomposing expensive large-scale equipment functions into a large number of small platforms and implementing decentralized deployment of forces.
7.3 Large-scale system support is the basic condition The implementation of precise point-kill warfare cannot be separated from the support of a large-scale system. Focusing on achieving combat goals, the required troops and weapons are transferred from each operational domain that is dispersed and deployed. With the support of the network information system, they are dynamically integrated to form a precision strike system to achieve overall linkage and system energy gathering. Through reasonable and sufficient firepower, the target is concentrated. Strike to achieve precise use of troops and precise release of energy. To implement precise point-and-kill operations to be precise, all links within the entire combat system need to be closely connected without any mistakes. The U.S. military’s killing of bin Laden in 2011 can be said to be a typical strategic precision killing operation supported by the strategic system.
7.4 It is inseparable from precise intelligence support In precision point kill warfare, precise intelligence support is always the key to achieving operational goals. Therefore, before the war, various means should be used to collect various enemy intelligence information, especially accurate analysis and judgment of enemy targets. During combat operations, various sensors and intelligence reconnaissance methods should be used to accurately grasp enemy target changes and dynamic target situations in a timely manner, so as to provide powerful and effective intelligence support for the implementation of precise point-kill warfare. The U.S. military’s targeted killing operation against Soleimani was a typical precise point-killing battle supported by an efficient intelligence system.
8. Supply-breaking Supply chain-breaking warfare refers to organizing elite forces in a system-gathering battle to attack the enemy’s logistics supplies and equipment supply supply chain, supply lines and supply bases, defeat the enemy and lose supplies and withdraw from the battle. In response to weaknesses such as the enemy’s long logistics supply line and large equipment support stalls, the organization of elite forces to build “chain-breaking warfare” combat systems, and to carry out sustained, precise and devastating strikes against enemy logistics supplies and equipment supply chains, supply lines and supply bases, will make it unsustainable due to the loss of supplies and will have to withdraw from the battle.
8.1 The supply guarantee chain has a huge impact on the overall combat situation Logistics equipment support is an important basis for operations. The constant supply of logistical supplies and weapons and equipment ultimately determines the size of an army’s combat troops, whether they can fight, in what season, where they can fight, how far they can leave their rear bases, how long they can fight, how fast they can maneuver, and so on. In information warfare, the consumption of battlefield materials has increased exponentially. Not only has the dependence on logistics equipment support for operations not decreased, but it has become larger and larger. Moreover, the requirements for the specialization of support have also become higher and higher In particular, modern combat equipment is available in a wide variety of models and specifications, with huge volumes of mixed transport, more dispersed troop deployment and very high requirements for transport capacity, which makes bases, communication lines and transport more important than ever. The stable and efficient operation of the supply guarantee chain and continuous and uninterrupted supply guarantee are the key to operational victory and have a huge impact on the overall operational situation.
8.2 The center of gravity of the attack is a key node in cutting off the enemy’s supply guarantee chain The operational center of gravity of supply chain-breaking warfare is a key link in attacking the enemy’s supply support chain, and its continuous support capability is lost through chain-breaking. Therefore, the organization of supply chain-breaking warfare should mainly target enemy ground railway and road transport lines, maritime supply convoys, military requisitioned merchant ships and combat support ships, large and medium-sized air transport aircraft, and rear supply bases. For example, striking the enemy’s maritime supply support chain and cutting off the enemy’s fuel, ammunition, fresh water, and food supplies will make the enemy aircraft carrier battle group lose its ability to continue fighting, which in turn will even affect the outcome of a battle.
8.3 The key is to choose the right time and make full use of tactics It is crucial to organize the implementation of supply chain-breaking warfare and to choose a favorable time to strike. The timing of strikes in supply chain-breaking warfare should be organized and implemented when the enemy’s supply maneuvers are selected, so as to surprise and attack unprepared concealed tactics, carry out sudden strikes on enemy supply vehicles, ships and transport aircraft, and terminate their supply operations. Specific tactics usually include covert ambush warfare, organizing capable forces to ambush the routes and routes that enemy transportation must pass through, waiting for opportunities to carry out covert surprise attacks; stealth surprise warfare, using submarines, stealth fighters, etc. to covertly move forward to carry out attacks on enemy transportation targets, and win by surprise; long-range precision warfare, using long-range conventional surface-to-surface missile forces to attack enemy supply bases and airports Long-range precision strikes are carried out at the departure points of supplies such as docks.
9. System “paralysis battle” System destruction and paralysis war refers to the comprehensive use of various means such as breaking the network, breaking the chain, and defeating nodes in the system optimization war to interfere with, delay, destroy, or even paralyze the effective operation of the enemy’s combat system and weaken the functions of the enemy’s combat system. The essence of system destruction and paralysis warfare is to weaken the correlation and structural power between the elements of the enemy’s combat system, degrade the functions of the system, and fail to play a role in doubling capabilities.
9.1 The combat goal is to disorderly operate the enemy’s combat system In information warfare, the combat systems of both warring parties have their own internal order, and this order is the key to maintaining and supporting the operation of the combat system. The side that can maintain and navigate the internal order of the combat system will gain an advantage and, conversely, a disadvantage. Therefore, the goal of “disrupting the enemy’s winning mechanism and causing the enemy’s combat system to become disordered” should be established in system destruction and paralysis warfare. This requires that the system be fully utilized in the battle of paralysis Information technology in particular intelligent algorithms The “powerful enabling effect” can quickly adjust and reconstruct one’s own combat system, quickly generate and release powerful combat power, and implement agile and precise strikes on the enemy’s combat system, causing the enemy’s combat system to lose normal operating order and become disordered. The system functions are destroyed and the overall combat capabilities are significantly reduced.
9.2 A key node in the heavy strike combat system Systematic confrontation is a major feature of information warfare. System is an important foundation and support for system confrontation, and is also the key to effectively exerting combat effectiveness by integrating various combat forces, weapon platforms and weapon systems on the battlefield. Whether the system can be kept robust and run smoothly has a decisive influence on the achievement of war and campaign victories. In the battle to destroy and paralyze the system, the key is to focus on the enemy’s integrated combat system of land, sea, air and space power grids, breaking the network, breaking the chain, and attacking nodes. By attacking key node targets, the operating mechanism of the enemy’s combat system will be out of order, and it may even be severely damaged or destroyed. Paralysis. Therefore, the basic direction of system destruction and paralysis warfare is to select key units, key nodes, and key elements of the enemy’s combat system to carry out strikes, attack one point, destroy one part, and paralyze the whole, so as to achieve the goal of defeating the enemy.
9.3 Implement soft strikes against the enemy’s combat system When organizing and implementing system breaking and hard destruction, it simultaneously organizes soft-kill combat operations such as electronic warfare, cyber warfare, psychological warfare, and public opinion warfare, and carries out soft strikes on the information domain and cognitive domain of the enemy’s combat system. Electronic warfare uses the power of electronic warfare to carry out strong electromagnetic interference against the enemy, causing its information to malfunction and fall into the fog of war; cyber warfare uses the power of cyber attack to attack the enemy’s network information system, causing the enemy’s command and communication system and computer network to be severely damaged, causing its command to malfunction and fall into information islands or even war islands; psychological warfare and public opinion warfare, using psychological warfare and public opinion warfare methods It carries out psychological strikes and public opinion guidance against the enemy, severely damaging his will to fight and inducing his cognitive disorientation. Organizing “people’s livelihood wars” to attack the opponent’s major national economy and people’s livelihood facilities can also play a role in the enemy’s combat system “drawing fuel from the bottom of the cauldron”. In the 1999 Kosovo War, the US military did not attack the Yugoslav army, but attacked its war potential target system, causing the Yugoslav soldiers and civilians to lose their will to fight and lead to defeat.
Soldiers are a major event for the country. In the great journey of “building a powerful country and rejuvenating the nation, and against the background of the accelerated evolution of major changes unseen in the world in a century, building and consolidating national defense and a strong people’s army are directly related to the future and destiny of the country and the nation”. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China pointed out that “national defense and military modernization are important components of Chinese-style modernization”, which fully reflects the great importance that the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core attaches to national defense and military construction, and provides guidance for national defense and military modernization on the new journey. Modernization points out the direction.
The modernization of the national defense and military is the security guarantee and strategic support for Chinese-style modernization
”If you fall behind, you will be beaten. Only when the army is strong can the country be safe”. Without a strong army, there can be no strong state. After the Opium War in 1840, modern China was repeatedly defeated in its battles with Western powers. The vast country gradually became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, with the country humiliated, the people in trouble, and civilization in dust. History has inspired us that the Chinese nation’s emergence from suffering and the liberation of the Chinese people depend on a heroic people’s army; to comprehensively promote the great cause of building a powerful country and national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization, we must place national defense and military modernization as a barrier to national security, plan and deploy in strategic positions based on career development, and accelerate the construction and consolidation of national defense and a strong people’s army.
The modernization of the national defense and military is closely linked and internally unified with Chinese-style modernization. Without the modernization of national defense and the military, there would be no Chinese-style modernization. Comrade Mao Zedong once profoundly pointed out “the original requirements for building socialism were industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, scientific and cultural modernization, and now we must add national defense modernization”; Comrade Deng Xiaoping also emphasized “four modernizations, one of which is national defense modernization”, these all reflect the great importance our party attaches to national defense and military construction.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi has always adhered to the integrated operation of strengthening the country and the military, put national defense and military modernization in the chess game of Chinese-style modernization, and opened up the road to strengthening the military with Chinese characteristics, forming a new strategy for national defense and military modernization by 2027, 2035, and the middle of this century, a new “three-step” strategy for national defense and military modernization that connects near, medium and long-term goals Created a new situation in the cause of strengthening the military. Guided by the party’s goal of strengthening the military in the new era, we will comprehensively implement the strategy of reforming and strengthening the military, promote the reform of the leadership and command system, the reform of scale structure and force organization, and the reform of military policies and systems. Our military’s organizational structure will achieve historic changes, and the force system will achieve revolutionary changes. Reshaping, the basic framework of the socialist military policy system with Chinese characteristics has been constructed and formed. Our military system has been completely new, its structure has been completely new, its pattern has been completely new, and its appearance has been completely new It has laid a solid foundation for the modernization of national defence and the army.
Military means, as a means of guaranteeing the realization of great dreams, can only stop a war if it can be fought. The current and future periods are critical periods for comprehensively promoting the great cause of building a powerful country and rejuvenating the nation through Chinese-style modernization, and will inevitably encounter various risks, challenges and even turbulent waves. We must comprehensively modernize our national defense and military, build the People’s Army into a world-class military, effectively guarantee Chinese-style modernization, and safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
Comprehensive and accurate grasp of the scientific connotation of national defense and military modernization
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi has issued a series of important expositions around “Chinese-style modernization”, summarizing the Chinese characteristics, essential requirements and major principles for the formation of Chinese-style modernization, building a theoretical system for Chinese-style modernization, and promoting the new era and new journey. Chinese-style modernization provides scientific guidance and also carries out strategic design and scientific deployment for national defense and military modernization.
The most fundamental thing about modernizing the national defense and military is to uphold the absolute leadership of the party over the military. The leadership of the Party is the fundamental guarantee of Chinese-style modernization, which determines the fundamental nature of Chinese-style modernization, and it must also determine the fundamental nature of national defense and military modernization. To promote the modernization of national defense and the military on the new journey, we must fully implement a series of fundamental principles and systems for the party to lead the people’s army, comprehensively and thoroughly implement the chairman’s responsibility system of the Military Commission, and effectively unify thoughts and actions into the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and President Xi; Adhere to the party’s management of cadres and talents, and highlight political standards and combat capabilities Ensure that the barrel of the gun is always in the hands of those who are loyal and reliable to the party; improve the comprehensive and strict governance of the party system, enhance the political and organizational functions of party organizations at all levels, and integrate the party’s leadership throughout the entire process of continuing to deepen national defense and military reforms in all aspects.
To modernize national defense and the military is to modernize military doctrine, military organization, military personnel, and weapons and equipment. This reflects the inherent requirements for the construction of military forces resulting from changes in the concept of victory in modern warfare, elements of victory and methods of victory, and clarifies the main signs of the basic realization of national defence and military modernization. To realize the modernization of military theory is to keep pace with the times, innovate war and strategic guidance, and form a military theoretical system that is contemporary, leading, and unique; to realize the modernization of organizational form is to deepen the reform of national defense and the military, and the military force structure layout is scientific and reasonable, strategic deterrence capabilities are consolidated and improved, new areas and new quality combat forces continue to grow, and elite operations, system support, and joint victory have become the basic application models; To realize the modernization of military personnel is to deeply implement the strategy of strengthening the military with talents in the new era, promote the comprehensive transformation and upgrading of military personnel’s capabilities, structural layout, and development management, and forge high-quality, professional new military talents with both ability and political integrity; to realize the modernization of weapons and equipment, It is necessary to focus on strengthening national defense scientific and technological innovation and accelerating the development of strategic, cutting-edge and disruptive technologies Accelerate the upgrading of weapons and equipment and the development of intelligent weapons and equipment.
For the modernization of national defence and the military, we must adhere to the integrated development of mechanization, informatization and intelligence. The military conflicts and local wars that have taken place in recent years have shown that new qualitative combat capabilities generated based on intelligent combat systems are increasingly becoming core military capabilities. Based on mechanization, dominated by informatization, and oriented by intelligence, the three superimpose, penetrate, and support each other, jointly giving rise to new forms of warfare and methods of warfare. Only by accelerating the integrated development of mechanization, informatization and intelligence and keeping up with the new military revolutionary trends in the world can we seize the opportunity and take the initiative in seizing the commanding heights of the military struggle.
The modernization of national defence and the army is a guarantee of security for insisting on the path of peaceful development. Since ancient times, soldiers have not been warlike. Chinese-style modernization is modernization on the path of peaceful development. Building a consolidated national defense and a strong military commensurate with international status and national security and development interests is a strategic task of China’s socialist modernization drive and an insistence on taking the path of peaceful development. Safety guarantee is an inevitable choice for summarizing historical experience. China has always pursued a defensive defence policy and adhered to the strategic idea of active defence, and no matter how far it develops, China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion. To promote the modernization of national defense and the military on the “new journey”, we must faithfully implement the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, resolutely oppose all forms of hegemony and bullying, and contribute China’s strength to building a beautiful world of lasting peace and universal security.
Advancing the modernization of national defence and the military at a new historical starting point
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China included “continuous deepening of national defense and military reforms into the overall plan for further comprehensive deepening of reforms, and made a series of major strategic arrangements for improving the leadership and management system and mechanism of the people’s army, deepening the reform of the joint operations system, and deepening cross-military and civilian reforms”. On the new journey, we must deeply understand and grasp the themes, major principles, major measures, and fundamental guarantees for further comprehensively deepening reforms, resolutely implement the new “three-step” strategy for national defense and military modernization, and accelerate the modernization of military theory, military organizational form, and military personnel. Modernize and modernize weapons and equipment, and lead the modernization of national defense and the military to move forward with better strategies, higher efficiency, and faster speed.
Strengthening the Party’s theoretical and scientific leadership in military guidance. Our party insists on combining the basic principles of Marxism with the practice of building the people’s army, absorbing the essence of China’s excellent traditional military culture, and constantly exploring new realms in the development of contemporary Chinese Marxist military theory and military practice. As an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military has achieved a new leap forward in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxist military theory. It is the fundamental guiding ideology of our party building and military governance in the new era. We must unremittingly arm our minds with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, further firmly establish the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military in national defense and military construction, and build and consolidate national defense and a strong people’s army under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military. Take new and greater steps on the road to strengthening the military with Chinese characteristics.
Efforts should be made to make the main responsibility and business of war preparation more solid and effective. The People’s Army is an armed group that performs the party’s political tasks. It must be both politically strong and capable. In the final analysis, this ability can win wars. To accelerate the modernization of national defense and the military, we must firmly grasp the fundamental direction of winning wars, establish the only fundamental standard of combat effectiveness, focus all our energy on fighting wars, and work hard on fighting wars. Conscientiously implement the military strategic policy for the new era, operate war preparation and cessation, deterrence and actual combat, war operations and the use of military forces in peacetime as a whole, innovate strategies, tactics and tactics, effectively shape the situation, manage crises, contain wars, and win wars. Adhere to the principle of “training troops as they fight, and comprehensively improve the actual combat level of military training and the ability to perform missions and tasks”.
Promote high-quality development of national defense and military construction through “reform and innovation”. Reform is a key move that will determine the growth of our army and its future. On the new journey, we must put innovation at the core of the overall military construction and development, transform development concepts, innovate development models, enhance development momentum, and promote the transformation of national defense and military modernization from quantitative growth to qualitative improvement. Focus on integrating national defense and military construction into the national economic and social development system on a wider scale, at a higher level, and to a deeper extent, continuously improve the quality and efficiency of national defense and military modernization, promote the simultaneous improvement of national defense strength and economic strength, and consolidate and improve the integration National strategic system and capabilities, and constantly write a new chapter of strengthening the country and the military.
Effectively lay a solid foundation for informatization
■Li Zhanliang
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that we should adhere to the integrated development of mechanization, informatization and intelligence. From the perspective of the relationship between mechanization, informatization and intelligence, mechanization is the foundation of informatization, and intelligence is the sublimation of informatization. Without mechanization there is no informatization, and without adequate informatization, no major breakthrough in intelligence is possible. At present, to vigorously promote military intelligence, we must first effectively lay a solid foundation for informatization construction and strive to improve the level of informatization of our troops.
Solidifying the material base. “It’s hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice”. In order to shorten the gap with powerful enemies “system gap”, information construction should closely follow the mission and tasks, keep up with cutting-edge technology, do a good job in top-level design, and promote peace and war in an integrated manner. First, upgrade and improve all types of information systems. It is necessary to “focus on the construction of the accusation center and use information infrastructure as a platform to coordinate the construction of sub-systems and the linkage construction of various systems, promote the construction of all elements and systems in areas such as command and control, and realize the integration of information networks in each sub-domain.” Real-time command and control. Secondly, we should build a good operational database. In accordance with the principles of “integration of peacetime and wartime, overall planning, and classified implementation”, we will build a comprehensive combat database to achieve information sharing, data support, and auxiliary decision-making, and support “command chain” with “information flow”. Again, a preset backup mobile command post. We should actively draw on the useful practices of foreign military forces and vigorously strengthen civil defence projects, so as to form a mobile command capability with a multi-point layout, complementary movements and static forces, and rapid configuration.
Build a “strong team”. To win local information wars with intelligent characteristics, building a strong information force is an important guarantee. On the whole, efforts should be made to train four types of talents: first, information command talents. Frontline mid – and senior-level commanders should study information and data like troops, the construction of information systems like battle breakthroughs, and the use of electromagnetic spectrum like ammunition performance. Second, information warfare talent. Cultivate a group of intelligent staff officers, operational planners, cognitive operations and other talents who are competent in information-based operations. Third, information security talents. With the “information assurance department and information assurance operation and maintenance professional technical team personnel” as the main targets, we will continue to increase professional training and improve network management, system use, inspection and maintenance capabilities. Fourthly, information research and development talents. Adopt methods such as “invite in, go out, etc., let go of burdens, and hand in tasks, cultivate a group of expert technical talents with strong system research and development capabilities, establish an information-based high-end talent mobile station, and form “not for me, but for me”” Use a virtuous cycle.
Change command philosophy. Modern warfare is about system, and joint combat command is a key part of it. In order to respond to real threats and challenges, it is necessary to establish a new concept of command that is compatible with future wars. First, the establishment of a solid integrated command concept. Overcoming the narrow concept of command of a single service and arms, comprehensively coordinating multi-dimensional battlefield operations such as land, sea, air, space, electricity, and networks, and integrating various combat elements to effectively improve the combat effectiveness of overall victory and joint victory. Second, establish a solid digital command concept. Transform from “extensive to precise command”, concretize and refine mission distinction, force use, time and space division, goal determination, etc., standardize the command procedures, command methods, command content and other processes of joint combat forces, and standardize reconnaissance intelligence, weapons The platform, command and control and other networked and real-time operations shorten the command process and improve the command timeliness. Third, we need to establish a solid and intelligent command concept. Actively explore the systematic application of artificial intelligence technology, accelerate the development and application of new technologies such as intelligent decision-making, digital twins, big data, and cloud computing, improve the level of complex information processing on the battlefield, and enable commanders to control combat units and various types of weapons with the support of intelligent cloud brains. Task-based command of the platform.
Advancing innovative practices. In order to adapt to changes in science and technology, changes in war, and changes in opponents, we should speed up the construction of “three systems” to win the information war. First, the system of innovative tactics. In-depth study of the real strategies of preventing enemy information attacks, resisting enemy information interference, and counterattacking enemy information in the case of all-round information strikes and firepower destruction by powerful enemy opponents, and strive to achieve precise enemy control. Secondly, the system of innovative training. Focusing on “strong enemy opponents and combat tasks, set up an information combat environment, conduct in-depth research and training on command coordination, tactical application, system construction, comprehensive support and other topics, and promote actual combat deployment and application”. Innovation management systems again. Adhere to the integration of peacetime and wartime management and the combination of virtual and real management, establish a demand-driven mechanism, a plan-led mechanism, and an inspection and evaluation mechanism led by war, create an independent and controllable industrial chain, supply chain, and guarantee chain, and ensure “peace management ”“wartime Use” seamless connection to help continuously improve information combat capabilities.
