China is to test its modern ‘digitized’ military units in an exercise next month. The Chinese military says developing such units is among its priorities for modernizing the armed forces.
‘Digitized’ troops are taking advantage of modern information
technology to succeed on the battlefield. Integrated computerized
systems are used to gather intelligence, assess the combat
situation, provide communications and control the status of a
unit. China sees upgrading its People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
with such systems as crucial for making it a smaller, yet more
capable force.
In late June, two combined corps of the Beijing Military Area
Command will be conducting drills at the Zhurihe training base in
north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, reports Xinhua
news agency.
The general staff said the exercise will focus “on combat forces
including digitalized units, special operations forces, army
aviation and electronic counter forces.” It would be the first
publicly-announced field training of the IT-enhanced troops by
China.
While military experts have long said that digitizing its
soldiers is likely to be high on China’s priorities, the PLA
first admitted it to be true in April in its white paper entitled
‘The Diversified Employment of China’s Armed Forces’. The
document provides an overview of the country’s military
capabilities and Beijing’s policies regarding their use.
Beijing is investing heavily into upgrading its military, buying
or developing new types of hardware, including aircraft carriers,
strategic missile submarines and advanced aircraft. The
modernization is part of China’s building up political clout
corresponding to its economic development.
China is also accused by some nations, including the US, of
conducting hacker operations to steal military technology. The
Pentagon recently pointed fingers to Beijing, reporting that it
acquired blueprints for some of America’s most sophisticated
weaponry. The classified report was leaked to the media.
Beijing denies the allegations, saying that PLA’s cyber-warfare
unit created in 2011 is purely defensive in nature.
This article originally appeared on: RT