The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has added hundreds of new missiles and 100 more nuclear warheads as part of a military buildup designed for a war with the United States, according to a Pentagon report made public Wednesday.
For the first time, the survey of Chinese military power reveals extensive PLA preparations for sophisticated information warfare operations against the United States, including the use of deepfake online posts and cyber-enabled psychological warfare. Pentagon analysts said the goal is to influence U.S. military leaders’ decision-making, demoralize troops and sow divisions in American society.
The report provides new details on extensive PLA advances in weapons systems, doctrine and training. The efforts include practice for missile strikes against U.S. aircraft carriers and warships during operations against Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing has vowed to annex as early as 2027.
“The PLA increasingly views warfare as a confrontation between opposing operational systems, rather than annihilation of opposing mechanized military forces,” the report said. “Following this logic, PLA writings refer to systems destruction warfare as the next way of war, transforming from mechanized warfare to an informatized and intelligentized style.
The PLA calls its information warfare activities “cognitive domain operations.” The report describes “an asymmetric capability to deter U.S. or third-party entry into a future conflict, or as an offensive capability to shape perceptions or polarize a society.”
The operations target the U.S. government and military, media organizations, businesses, academic and cultural institutions, and policy communities.
Hellbound and Down 