File Title space weaponization good 2
Uniqueness --- China Rivaling US Now
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- China’s space capabilities almost on par with the US’s
- Chinese capabilities could strike US ships
Uniqueness --- China Rivaling US NowChina’s space capabilities catching up to the US nowBlair 7/13 – Bruce Blair, president of the World Security Institute, and Co-Coordinator of Global Zero, July 13, 2011, “China's Rapid Space Ascent,” http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/07/13/china%E2%80%99s-rapid-space-ascent/ A recent revelatory study by my colleagues Eric Hagt and Matthew Durnin to be published in the Journal of Strategic Studies (October 2011 Vol. 34) describes China's rapid expansion of its space satellite network from humble beginnings only one decade ago. It's constellation of reconnaissance, data-relay, navigation and communications satellites provide global as well as regional capabilities in support of China's power projection. Having acquired significant real-time space support of real-time military operations, China has moved substantially closer to its paramount goal of acquiring the ability to prevent the United States from operating with near-impunity close to China's shores. And it has laid the spacework for further expanding military operations to wider swaths of Asia and beyond. China can now peer down from space at stationary targets in and around Taiwan for a significant chunk of the day – some five hours of daily live surveillance. This coverage practically matches U.S. capacity, a stunning advance that doubles China's coverage in only 18 months and pushes its military capability into a new era in which tactical war-fighting missions can be carried out with timely support from reconnaissance platforms in space. This newfound capability brings China to the threshold of fulfilling its ambition of acquiring the ability to target moving platforms, notably U.S. aircraft carriers and their escorts. China lags the United States in the ability to find and monitor moving targets but is fast catching up as a result of progress it has made in radar and electronic intelligence satellites. China's rapid ascent in space militarization, particularly in spy satellite operations, builds on its exploitation of mature technologies and serial production, a formula that emulates China's broader strategy of technological innovation. The United States still dominates the high-tech frontier. China has concentrated on proven ‘good enough' technology that can be reliably and affordably put into mass production. While China's states military ambitions are largely focused on regional contingencies, its space revolution is conferring capabilities to expand its horizons and support global military missions if that becomes necessary, or just desirable. China’s space capabilities almost on par with the US’sRabinovitch 7/11 – Simon Rabinovitch, correspondent for Thomson Reuters in Beijing, July 11, 2011, “China’s ‘eye-in-the-sky’ nears par with US,” http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cf83817a-abaa-11e0-8a64-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1SfXoIiKY China’s rapidly expanding satellite programme could alter power dynamics in Asia and reduce the US military’s scope for operations in the region, according to new research. Chinese reconnaissance satellites can now monitor targets for up to six hours a day, the World Security Institute, a Washington think-tank, has concluded in a new report. The People’s Liberation Army, which could only manage three hours of daily coverage just 18 months ago, is now nearly on a par with the US military in its ability to monitor fixed targets, according to the findings. “Starting from almost no live surveillance capability 10 years ago, today the PLA has likely equalled the US’s ability to observe targets from space for some real-time operations,” two of the institute’s China researchers, Eric Hagt and Matthew Durnin, write in the Journal of Strategic Studies. China’s rapidly growing military might has unnerved its neighbours, many of whom are US allies, while a series of disputes this year with Vietnam and the Philippines have added to the concerns. China’s military build-up has accelerated in recent years, as it has developed an anti-ship ballistic missile, tested a stealth fighter and is poised to launch its first aircraft carrier. The fast-growing network of reconnaissance satellites provides China with the vision to harness this hardware. Admiral Mike Mullen, America’s top military official, said at the weekend in Beijing that it was clear that the PLA is focused on “access denial” – a term that describes a strategy of pushing the US out of the western Pacific. “The US is not going away,” Adm Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said. “Our enduring presence in this region has been important to our allies for decades and will continue to be so.” China warned the US last month not to become involved in its dispute with Vietnam over the South China Sea. “[China’s] strategic priority is to keep the US out of its backyard,” Mr Durnin told the Financial Times, adding that the satellite technology needed for achieving that goal is now in place. When China tested missiles near Taiwan in 1996, the US deployed two aircraft carriers to nearby waters. The PLA’s inability to locate the ships was a source of great embarrassment that helped spur China’s satellite programme.
A soon-to-be-released analysis in the British Journal of Strategic Studies concludes that the fast pace of work on cutting-edge spy orbiters would give China the ability to monitor up-to-the-minute U.S. military movements and to steer its ballistic missiles in strikes on U.S. warships. "The most immediate and strategically disquieting application (of reconnaissance satellites) is a targeting and tracking capability in support of the antiship ballistic missile, which could hit U.S. carrier groups," according to the report. "But China's growing capability in space is not designed to support any single weapon; instead it is being developed as a dynamic system, applicable to other long-range platforms," the analysis continues. "With space as the backbone, China will be able to expand the range of its ability to apply force while preserving its policy of not establishing foreign military bases." China remains aggravated by U.S. military support for Taiwan, which has an autonomous government but remains viewed in Beijing as Chinese territory. Beijing routinely insists it does not have plans to place weapons in space. China has defended its markedly enhanced military spending as necessary for its own protection and to replace outmoded equipment. "China's constellation of satellites is transitioning from the limited ability to collect general strategic information, into a new era in which it will be able to support tactical operations as they happen," says the expert analysis, viewed by Reuters. "China may already be able to match the United States' ability to image a known, stationary target and will likely surpass it in the flurry of launches planned for the next two years," it adds. In 2007, China successfully used a missile to dislodge one of its aging orbiting satellites and in 2010 the nation saw significant gains in the development of arms capable of eliminating missiles in mid-flight (see GSN, March 10; Ben Blanchard, Reuters, July 11).
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