China’s military AI detects secret radar links between South China Sea, Alaska and Guam

Scientists say electromagnetic signals suggest ‘tactical coordination’ among radars deployed across Pacific Ocean

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Chinese researchers say their AI system can identify unknown types of radars and guess their secret operating parameters. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 10:00am, 16 Aug 2024Updated: 11:16am, 16 Aug 2024

Chinese electronic warfare AI has detected mysterious signals that repeatedly show up in the South China Sea, Guam, the Marshall Islands and the Aleutian Islands near Alaska – and they appear to be coordinated.

Scientists involved in the investigation say that the characteristics of these electromagnetic signals suggest the existence of “tactical coordination” among military radars deployed in these areas across the Pacific Ocean.

This is the first time the People’s Liberation Army has publicly showed its ability to gather electronic warfare intelligence around the globe “based on specific targets and actual reconnaissance data”, according to the researchers.

The operational range of China’s naval and air forces in the Pacific has expanded from the South China Sea to Alaska and the US territory of Guam – a key spot on the “second island chain” under Washington’s strategy to contain China.

Meanwhile, the Marshall Islands, in the central Pacific, are home to the US military’s most powerful space surveillance radar.

China and its competitors engaged in electronic confrontation “every day” around the globe, said the research team led by Zhou Changlin of the Strategic Support Forces Information Engineering University. They published their findings in a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of Terahertz Science and Electronic Information Technology in May.