China steps up focus on modern warfare with military reform

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) went through a fresh round of reforms on 19 April, which included the setting up of the Information Support Force (ISF) and the dissolution of the Strategic Support Force (SSF). This is the biggest organisational reform for the PLA since the second half of 2015, when China’s paramount leader Xi Jinping set off a round of major reforms for the military. 

The main thrust of this reform was the dissolution of the SSF, splitting up the current key units of the SSF into the ISF, an aerospace unit and a cyber unit, forming a “4+4” new military organisation structure under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission (CMC).  

The 4+4 military organisation structure refers to the four military services — Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force — and the four arms including the ISF, Aerospace Force, Cyberspace Force and Joint Logistics Support Force. According to the PLA classification, the four military services are “theatre command leader grade” (正战区级), while the four arms are “deputy theatre command leader grades” (副战区级).

Presently, the CMC is in direct command of only six units, including the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force, as well as the SSF and the Joint Logistics Support Force.

After this reform, the SSF — the most technological unit —would be split into three independent units to enhance the military’s capabilities in information sharing, space access and utilisation, and cyberwarfare offence and defence, showing the PLA’s emphasis on developing “new quality combat capabilities”.  

Of the three newly minted military units, Xi Jinping presented a flag and gave a speech only to the ISF, demonstrating the key role that this unit would play in the PLA.

Xi stated in his speech that the ISF is a new, strategic arm of the military and a key pillar in coordinating the construction and application of the network information system. It will play a crucial role in advancing the Chinese military’s high-quality development and competitiveness in modern warfare. 

Xi urged the ISF to effectively support combat operations and maintain information superiority to achieve joint victory. He also emphasised the importance of smooth information transmission, information resource integration and protection, as well as the unit deeply integrating itself into the Chinese military’s joint operation system, precisely and effectively implementing information support to ensure operations in all directions and domains.

He also urged efforts to enhance technological innovation, build a network information system with PLA characteristics that would meet the requirements of modern warfare, and promote the rapid improvement of system combat capabilities with high quality.

With regard to the establishment of the new aerospace and cyberspace units, Wu Qian, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, stated that building the Aerospace Force is of great significance to strengthening the capacity to safely enter, exit and openly use space, enhancing crisis management and the efficacy of comprehensive governance in space and promoting peaceful utilisation of space. 

He added that cybersecurity is a global challenge and a severe security threat that China faces, and that developing the cyberspace force is important for the vigorous development of cybersecurity defence methods, reinforcing national cyber border defence, promptly detecting and countering network intrusions, and maintaining national cyber sovereignty and information security.

From Xi’s address and Wu’s briefing, it can be roughly seen that the ISF is mainly responsible for providing intelligence, communication, command and control support for various combat units to improve combat effectiveness and combat power.

The Aerospace Force mainly undertakes functions such as strategic reconnaissance and technical checks, including rapid satellite launches during wartime, space-based surveillance platforms, near-space strategic reconnaissance platforms, and early observation of anti-missile systems.

The main task of the Cyberspace Force is to promptly discover and eliminate virus attacks, alongside intelligence collection, military deception, public opinion warfare, and psychological warfare.

The four major services of the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force are like the fists of the PLA; the Aerospace Force is like its eyes and ears; the Cyberspace Force is responsible for cybersecurity; and the ISF is like the nervous system, connecting the hardware and software of various services, ensuring rapid and accurate analysis and utilisation of intelligence, for the CMC and various theatre commands to formulate strategic and tactical plans.

The ISF will undertake the collection, analysis and transmission of various types of intelligence, collecting enemy information through various technical means such as drones, satellite reconnaissance and network reconnaissance, including personnel, equipment, deployment and tactics, to provide accurate and timely intelligence support for various combat units.

At the same time, it is also responsible for ensuring the communication and command control of the military, including establishing and maintaining communication networks to ensure smooth information transmission between combat units to carry out actions according to plans and orders.

This round of military reform in the Chinese military is also taking a leaf from the US military. As early as the 1980s, the US military established the Air Force Space Command; in 2019, the US military formally established the Space Force. The concept of cyber forces in the US military has also a long history. In the 1990s, the US began researching and practising cyber warfare. In 2010, the US military merged the Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations, and the Joint Functional Component Command for Network Warfare to form the US Cyber Command.

The PLA has long lagged behind the US military in terms of aerospace, network and informatisation. In recent years, with the continuous enhancement of China’s comprehensive national strength and technological capabilities, the PLA has continuously updated its equipment and operational concepts, and it has begun to learn and draw on the advanced experiences of the US military.

In late 2015, Xi Jinping initiated the largest-scale national defence and military reform since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, breaking the long-standing system of having headquarters, large military regions and large land forces. A new structure was set up, with the CMC in overall command, the services as the main building blocks, and the theatre commands in charge of operations. The SSF was established during that reform.

Fast forward eight years, and the SSF is no more, while new services such as the ISF have emerged. This is a continuation of the reform of the Chinese military and a new attempt by the PLA to win in modern warfare.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国军队的新改革”.

Related: Wave of military purges in PLA unlikely to be over | China deepens purging of the military to prepare for battle