China uses AI to expose US spy radars in the South China Sea

China’s PLA uses AI to find and study coordinated radar signals across the Pacific. This shows where the US military might be and improves their electronic warfare skills.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China said it had found what looked like coordinated radar readings across the Pacific Ocean. A brand-new kind of AI was used to find the signs in the Marshall Islands, Guam, Alaska, and the South China Sea.

Based on what the PLA says, the signals seem to point to “tactical coordination” coming from radar sites in these areas. Even though they didn’t say which country or countries run the radar systems, the sites strongly point to the US.

The South China Morning Post says this is the first time the PLA has told the world about this kind of electronic warfare. It’s also the first time they’ve said in public that they can do something like that.

If it’s true, radar monitoring sites would likely work together in this way because Washington would be very interested in this kind of information. The naval and air forces of China have grown their operating range in the Pacific from the South China Sea to Alaska and Guam, which is a US territory. In Washington’s plan to keep China in check, this area is a key part of the “second island chain.” The Marshall Islands, which are in the middle of the Pacific, are also home to the most powerful space spy radar in the United States.

The study team led by Zhou Changlin at the Strategic Support Forces Information Engineering University says that China and its rivals are in electronic conflict “every day” around the world. The researchers say that the Chinese military hasn’t been able to use standard analysis methods because they are too slow or not accurate enough.

Zhou’s team created an AI-based data processing platform that can analyze huge amounts of data and pull out information to give combat units precise and tailored services.

The researchers say that the AI system can look at old signals that are noisy and uncertain to find patterns of electronic tactical communication between different types of radars from different countries that are located in different places. There is a list of events in the study that the AI thinks are connected, along with their GPS coordinates. The team said that this knowledge helps the Chinese military plan better for electronic warfare tasks like blocking electromagnetic waves, tricking people, and jamming.

Zhou’s team says that AI can also figure out what kinds of radars are out there, correctly guess how they work, and even guess where foreign naval fleets will be stationed in the future. In electronic warfare, the AI works with other intelligence tools, like imaging satellites, to make sure what it finds is correct. Zhou’s team stresses that human experts have also been very important in fine-tuning the AI model’s parameters.