MILCOM - January analysis
Trouble at The Top
As our Change of Name, Change of Culture article in this month’s Military Communications Newsletter explains, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has performed a major reorganisation of its Strategic Support Force (SSF). The SSF was a PLA combatant command. One of the SSF’s key missions was deploying, managing and modernising the strategic, operational and tactical communications the PLA relies on. The SSF was disbanded in April 2024 and then reconstituted as the Information Support Force. The exact reasons for this course of action remains unknown.
In December 2024, the US Department of Defence’s 2024 Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China Annual Report to Congress speculated that the changes may have occurred because of politico-military concerns over the SSF’s leadership. The report noted that the SSF’s head General Ju Qiansheng was removed from his post in February 2023. It speculated that this may have been the result of the incident in the United States one month earlier when a Chinese surveillance balloon was flown over America. Gen. Ju was not replaced before the SSF was disbanded. Likewise, the Lieutenant General Shang Hong, commander of the SSF’s space force, was not replaced following his departure that same year. The report speculated that both officers may have been involved in corrupt procurement practices. The same document also noted wider corruption in the PLA, and purges by the Chinese politico-military leadership to this end.
Assuming corruption did take hold in the SSF, this will have hampered the PLA’s continued pursuit of modernised communications systems and networks. Corruption in defence procurement never leads to the procurement and sustainment of the best capabilities. Instead, proficiency suffers as warriors must make do with inferior materiel. Graft contaminates the workforce; efficiency suffers and motivation declines. China maybe a feared and respected near-peer rival, but corruption in PLA circles may be more severe than the country’s leadership dares admit. This may yet retard the pace, breadth and depth of PLA military communications modernisation. Anything that slows this process will benefit the US and her allies as they confront an increasingly strategically assertive China.
MILCOM Analysis - January
Comms Collapse
The rapid end of Syria’s civil war, and the fall of the Assad regime, may have highlighted shortcomings in Russian tactical communications, and the proficiency of Turkish electronic warfare.
Change of Name, Change of Culture?
A bureaucratic reorganisation in one of China’s combatant commands may be indicative of problems and challenges the Chinese military is experiencing in modernising its military communications.
Of Strelets and Andromeda
A new book sheds light on the organisation of Russian land forces’ command and control, and the digital battle management systems they employ at operational and tactical levels.
January Radio Roundup
Armada’s monthly roundup of all the latest news in the military communications product, programme and operational domains.
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MILCOM Analysis - December
Belarussian Tactical Communications Enhancements
The modernisation of the Belarussian Army’s tactical communications is continuing with recent deliveries of new R-185 Epocha command and control platforms.
Keeping Secrets
Why capturing an airborne radio compatible with NATO’s Link-16 tactical datalink protocol may not hand Russian radio frequency engineers an intelligence coup.
Found in Translation
A recent military exercise in Germany trialled the interoperability of several tactical datalink and communications protocols used throughout NATO.
December Radio Roundup
Armada’s monthly roundup of all the latest news in the military communications product, programme and operational domains.