The weight of an assassin's mace : vulnerabilities in the US military's satellite communications and China's information warfare threat

Believing that an information Revolution of Military Affairs has occurred, the US military is currently transforming to achieve dominance over the full spectrum of deployment scenarios with a lighter, more mobile, and more capable force. Establishing a far-reaching, robust, ubiquitous ISR and telecommunications network, and a network-centered fighting doctrine are keys to this endeavor. Of the many systems needed, satellite communications are especially significant because they are the prime method of transmitting high quantities of information to remote and mobile units. The People's Republic of China too has become aware of the information Revolution of Military Affairs, as well as the vulnerabilities associated with it. Though the People's Republic is still in the process of modernizing its society and military, the doctrines and advantages of Information Warfare have not been lost to it. It seeks to equip itself with the IT and skill sets that are becoming increasingly more available to asymmetrically affect the information usage of a technologically superior adversary. As it stands, the military's use of satellite communications is vulnerable.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Political Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Brooks, Benjamin M

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Taylor Fravel.

• Political Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33687

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33687