The U.S. and Chinese militaries have something new in common. Both must now operate under each other’s nearly constant satellite surveillance. Luckily, the United States has a legacy tool to alert commanders of foreign satellite overflights; the U.S. military just needs to consistently use it, even at bases in the United States. The Chinese continue to use their version of the satellite warning system, arguably with success. Usage of the tool is down in the United States, but routinely high in China. Indeed, in the words of a unit of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) Special Operations Forces, “It is equally important to be good at ‘hiding’ as it is to be able to ‘fight’ …by using superior concealment capabilities to evade your adversary's intelligence reconnaissance… the adversary [becomes] ‘blind’ and ‘deaf.’”
This article attempts a red team analysis of increasing Chinese satellite surveillance to find additional methods of adaptation for the United States military. The article suggests that the U.S.’s existing tools should be used to compliment new plans, rather than be thrown out. The suggestion is based on an analysis of how the Chinese military has responded to decades of satellite surveillance from the United States.
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