Voice of America (VOA) recently reported on “Chinese Military Papers Claim Military 5G Technology Deployment Ready,” citing Kai-Shen Huang, the head of Democratic Governance Research Program at DSET, who noted that while applying 5G technology on the battlefield isn’t novel, there may not be significant technological breakthroughs yet.
The VOA report covered a Chinese military paper describing the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) deployment of military 5G base stations, enabling battlefield image transmission and intelligence sharing. The paper also detailed research on a drone assistance platform where numerous drones serve as aerial signal relay stations, returning to base vehicles for recharging when depleted. However, these military 5G applications were noted as theoretically possible but still far from practical implementation.
In the interview, DSET Democratic Governance Group Leader Huang explained, within the context of US-China tech competition, that China’s position as a global 5G leader stems from Huawei’s involvement in military 5G construction from the beginning. This means China initially adopted a military-civilian fusion model for 5G development, suggesting many civilian base stations may already contain military-grade bandwidth capabilities that could be activated for military use when needed.
Huang highlighted that the problem with China’s dual-use development model lies in whether the 5G infrastructure deployed in other Belt and Road Initiative countries could similarly be utilized by the PLA at crucial moments. He added that other countries with widespread Huawei 5G infrastructure deployment (such as in Africa) likely face similar risks, where the PLA could potentially connect to local Huawei infrastructure during critical times, thereby limiting US military access to local communication systems.
Huang explained that while cybersecurity attacks and interference are common methods to disrupt or decode 5G communications in battlefield environments, another major concern is that large-scale deployment of Huawei equipment in battlefields could potentially be used by the PLA to enhance their own 5G communication capabilities, preventing other military forces from effective usage. Other military forces using Huawei communication facilities may also face risks of decryption and data theft.