Space warfare will be an integrated part of battle planning by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in any future conflict. One of the major proponents of integrated space power for the PLA, Major General Cai Fengzhen, believes that "control of portions of outer space is a natural extension of other forms of territorial control," such as sea or air control. More seriously, because of American superiority in space, China's military theorists treat the United States as the most likely opponent in that domain of war. The head of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Lieutenant General Kevin Campbell, thinks it is possible that "within three years we can be challenged at a near-peer level" by China. This means that China will be capable of "taking out a number of communications capabilities over a theater of war." The Genesis of China's Space Warfare Doctrine We should not be surprised that the Chinese military is developing doctrine for warfare in space. Military theory evolves in response to changes in technology. It is a normal activity for strategists and war planners in any military to consider how advances in weapons and technology affect warfare and to explore how to adapt to these changes. The moves by the PLA are serious and bear watching, but American security policymakers should avoid an alarmist reaction to what is happening in China's military. The PLA's development of space warfare doctrine is not some self-made phenomenon. Rather, the PLA has carefully absorbed and is reacting to what the U.S. military has published on space warfare and counter-space operations.The PLA has also studied Soviet-era and contemporary Russian thinking on space operations, using these studies to guide its own evolving doctrine. China's neighbors are also developing the sort of space warfare capabilities that the United States and the Soviet Union considered decades ago. Former Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal S. P. Tyagi recently advocated establishing a jointly manned "aerospace command" for India to use the missile, satellite, and communications capabilities of the Indian armed forces effectively U.S. security planners must monitor China's efforts carefully, however, because the United States is singled out in much of the literature as the most likely adversary for the PLA. The PLA has also made surprisingly rapid advances in this area. The most senior and widely published author in the Chinese military on space warfare and aerospace doctrine, Cai Fengzhen, borrows most of his terminology and concepts from U.S. military doctrine. Indeed, Cai credits U.S. Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham and his book High Frontier with developing the original concept.Cai traces the concept of expanding one's borders directly into space to Graham and his "high frontier" theory.Cai opines that space control is a natural extension of other forms of territorial control, such as sea control or the control of a nation's airspace. This is a concept that Cai explored in an earlier work on aerospace operations and the PLA Air Force. The space warfare system from PLA china military builds low altitude combat operation system，for more information subscribe and browse channal at http://youtube.com/user/cosmeticmachines as well as blogspot at http://cosmeticsmachinery.blogspot.com

• published: 16 May 2014
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