China creates cyber weapons to capture enemy satellites

China is developing sophisticated cyberweapons to control enemy satellites to prevent them from transmitting signals in wartime.

Source: Financial Times, citing a classified US intelligence report

The US Central Intelligence Agency is convinced that China wants to suppress, capture or use other people's satellites because it considers them a key means of controlling information, which Beijing considers the most important "warfighting domain," the newspaper writes.

To do this, the FT notes, China needs cyber weapons that are superior to all the electronic warfare that Russia is waging against Ukraine. According to the leaked documents, China is developing its own technology to imitate the signals of the satellites themselves, intercepting control over them or causing critical failures at an unexpected moment for the enemy.

"Such a cyber weapon in the hands of the Chinese military would render space equipment ineffective in supporting communications, self-guided missiles, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, and satellites would be unable to communicate with each other, transmit images and valuable intelligence, and help control weapons systems," the newspaper says, citing a US intelligence report.

The FT notes that Taiwan has noticed the high efficiency of satellite communications in the war in Ukraine, which is why it has begun to build its own network, protected from hacking by the Chinese military.

The US military has officially stated that China has made significant progress in the development of military space technologies, the publication writes.

"China continues to aggressively invest in technologies designed to disrupt, degrade, and destroy our space capabilities," said General Chance Saltzman, Commander of the US Space Force, in a speech to Congress in March.

And former Deputy U.S. Cyber Commander, retired General Charlie Moore, said that China is making great efforts to deprive the United States of its superiority in space and cyberspace. He said that China is trying not only to improve its capabilities, but also to create new technologies in defense, offense and intelligence, the FT adds.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 22/04/2023