The signals are coming from the South China Sea, Guam, and Alaska.

Updated: Aug 19, 2024 07:38 AM EST Christopher McFadden

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has announced that it has detected what appears to be coordinated radar signals across the Pacific Ocean. Using a new artificial intelligence (AI), the signals have been found in the South China Sea, Guam, the Marshall Islands, and Alaska.

According to the PLA, the characteristics of the signals appear to suggest “tactical coordination” from radar installations in these areas. While they did disclose which nation or nations operate the radar systems, the locations would strongly suggest the United States.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), this is the first time the PLA has publicly announced electronic warfare intelligence of this kind. It is also the first time they have publicly announced they have such capabilities.

If true, such coordination between radar monitoring stations would be expected as Washington would find such information of great interest. For example, detecting and monitoring Chinese military assets goings-on would be key to its efforts to contain Chinese aggression in the region.

Coordinated radar to monitor PLA

China’s naval and air forces have expanded their operational range in the Pacific from the South China Sea to Alaska and the US territory of Guam. This area is a key location on the “second island chain” under Washington’s strategy to contain China.

Additionally, the Marshall Islands, located in the central Pacific, are home to the U.S. military’s most powerful space surveillance radar. According to the research team of Zhou Changlin of the Strategic Support Forces Information Engineering University, China and its competitors engage in electronic confrontation “every day” around the globe.

In a peer-reviewed paper published in May, Zhou and his colleagues wrote that these events generate a large amount of signal data, including information on time, frequency, location, and electromagnetic parameters. This data, which warships, aircraft, and satellites can collect, has grown rapidly in volume and complexity in recent years.

According to the researchers, traditional analysis methods have not been fast or accurate enough to meet the Chinese military’s intelligence data mining needs. So Zhou’s team built a data processing platform based on AI algorithms that enables massive data analysis and intelligence extraction to provide precise and customized services for combat units.

Man and machine working in harmony

According to the researchers, the AI system can analyze historical signals filled with noise and uncertainty to identify patterns of electronic tactical coordination among different types of radars belonging to different countries at various locations. The paper includes a list of events that the AI deems to be correlated and gives their geographical coordinates.

The team explained that this information assists the Chinese military in effectively planning electronic warfare tasks such as electromagnetic suppression, deception, and jamming. Zhou’s team claims that AI can also identify unknown radar types, accurately estimate their confidential operating parameters, and even predict the future deployment of foreign naval fleets.

The AI in electronic warfare collaborates with other intelligence platforms, such as imaging satellites, to verify its findings. Zhou’s team emphasizes that human experts have also been crucial in refining the AI model parameters.

The PLA’s electronic warfare equipment has rapidly advanced in recent years, and its strategy has become proactive, while the United States sometimes finds itself in a defensive position.