Three Pronged Attack: Chinese Military In Cyberwarfare Buildup
China’s cyberwarfare forces were outlined for the first time in a Chinese military paper. The PLA, (People’s Liberation Army), cyberwar force has three elements, including a cadre of dedicated military specialists devoted to network warfare that conduct cyberattacks and defense.
Other forces include teams of specialists working in civilian intelligence, police and security organs who conduct military cyber-operations. Last are units outside government that will be mobilized for network warfare.
The Pentagon is moving ahead with plans to deploy a high-powered missile defense system in its South Korean ally that China calls a threat to its security.
Although preliminary talks are underway, the US-South Korea joint working group has not yet met to discuss the THAAD issue, Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban said. No timeline on a potential deployment has been established, the commander added.
A Pentagon official said the weapons system can be rapidly deployed and that the only impediment is reaching a quick agreement. “The deployment can be done in two weeks or 20 months,” said one military official familiar with the plans. The entire package can be delivered in 17 flights aboard C-17 cargo jets.
The official said Osan Air Base, the main US military air base in the country, is the most likely deployment site. The base is about 40 miles south of Seoul.
One THAAD battery will be dispatched. It will include 24 anti-missile interceptors, three truck-mounted launchers and the high-powered AN/TPY-2 X-band radar.
Compared with the Patriot PAC-3 missile defenses in South Korea, THAAD has greater range and capability, including the ability to shoot down incoming short-, medium- and intermediate-range missiles.
The addition of THAAD will provide what the commander of U.S. forces in South Korea, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, said is an extra layer of missile defense protection.
“North Korea continues to develop their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and it is the responsibility of our alliance to maintain a strong defense against those threats,” he said in a statement. “THAAD can add an important capability in a layered and effective missile defense.”
The four-star general requested the system in 2014, but Seoul balked from the deployment in response to pressure from China, which views THAAD as a threat to its missile forces. The South Koreans, however, changed course and agreed to the missiles following the recent North Korean underground nuclear test and subsequent test of a long-range TD-2 missile.
