Advertisement
Chinese navy looks to big data to give it an edge
- Article in official PLA Daily newspaper highlights role of one of the country’s older frigates in collecting sonar data from foreign vessels
- One commander says that collecting such information is now a ‘key task’ during regular training operations
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
6
The People’s Liberation Army has outlined ways it is strengthening the navy’s data analytics capability and collecting large amounts of information about foreign vessels and aircraft.
Advertisement
In a full-page feature published on Monday, the official PLA Daily newspaper described how data analysts on the Yancheng, a Type 054A guided-missile frigate, had been working with radar operators to collect sonar data from foreign ships.
“Data collection has become one of our key tasks in regular training, which is now an integral part of our detachment,” the report said, quoting a commander from the PLA’s North Sea Fleet.
The ship was launched in 2011 and did not originally have a sonar system, but the report said it had been upgraded and can now take part in anti-submarine operations as well as using anti-ship missile data it collected during previous drills that simulated an attack by multiple drones.
“The PLA has upgraded old warships and made their [weapon systems] talk to each other through data-linking, which is a big boost to combat training and operational efficiency” Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at the Taiwanese naval academy in Kaohsiung.
Advertisement