World
US Intelligence Exposes China's Plan To Hijack Enemy Satellites
Joe Biden (left) and Xi Jinping (Representative Image).
China is allegedly developing advanced cyber weapons capable of disabling enemy satellites, thus preventing any data signals or surveillance during war, as per a US intelligence leak, reported by the Financial Times.
China aims to control information as a "war-fighting domain", with the US suspecting their satellite capabilities development targets to "deny, exploit or hijack" enemy information.
A recently published Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) document, bearing the agency's mark and never disclosed before, was among many shared by a 21-year-old US Air Guardsman involved in the most significant intelligence leaks in over ten years.
Russia's electronic warfare teams in Ukraine have been ineffective with a brute-force approach, making a cyber capability far more advanced than anything they have, significant.
Truck-based jamming systems like the Tirada-2 attempt to disrupt communication between low-orbit SpaceX satellites and their terminals using similar frequencies. These techniques were developed in the 1980s.
China's cyber attacks try to replicate enemy satellite signals, which can lead to either complete takeover or malfunction during critical combat times.
According to a US document, China has an advanced cyber capability that enables it to take over a satellite and disrupt its communication, intelligence, and surveillance systems. The US has not revealed if it holds similar capabilities.
Taiwan plans to build sturdy communication infrastructure, following Ukraine's example, to withstand possible attacks from China.
Satellite communications played a crucial role in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict as a cyber attack by Russia managed to render thousands of Ukrainian military routers from US-based Viasat useless prior to their full-scale invasion on 24 February 2020. This attack was described as "catastrophic" by a Ukrainian official.
Several hundred wind turbines affected, causing service disruptions to thousands of Viasat customers in Poland, Italy and Germany.
Viasat hack breached computer systems and sent out instructions that caused modem malfunction.
The leaked assessment suggests that China aims to advance its goals by disrupting the ability of interconnected satellite clusters to communicate, relay orders, and collect data. Experts believe this could impede the transmission of signals and data to weapons systems.
China has made significant military space technology advancements, especially in satellite communications, US officials caution.
China's military has 347 deployed satellites, with 35 launched recently, aimed at monitoring, tracking, targeting and attacking US forces in future conflicts.
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