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The Old Military-Industrial Complex Wonāt Win a New Cold War With China
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Adrian Wooldridge
The West has long assumed that it enjoys a substantial technological advantage over any potential military rival.
But for how much longer?
The Peopleās Liberation Army is not only challenging the West in terms of conventional and nuclear weaponry ā Chinaās navy is now the biggest in the world, and its nuclear arsenal may reach 1,000 warheads by 2030, according to the US Department of Defense. It is roaring ahead in high-tech. China has overtaken the West in hypersonic missiles ā those capable of traveling at five times the speed of sound and evading air defenses. It is also pioneering lasers, orbiting space robots and high-altitude balloons.
The phrase du jour in the PLA is
ā āintelligentized warfareā: that is, applying AI techniques, such as machine learning and human-machine teaming, to military decision-making or to weapons systems (drone swarms or unmanned vehicles);
ā ācognitive domain operations,ā combining psychological warfare with cyber operations to shape public opinion);
ā and something called ābrain science.ā
The invaluable 2023 US Department of Defense report on military and security developments in China claims mysteriously that āin 2021, Beijing funded the China Brain Plan, a major research project aimed at using brain science to develop new biotechnology and AI applications
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