China ‘still a long way off’ closing software gap in military technology
- Modern warfare is fought and won with communication and information, areas in which the PLA trails the world’s best, observers say
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has the biggest gains to make in software in its drive to close the technology gap and match the world’s leading armed forces, military analysts said after China released it latest defence white paper.
In its report “China’s National Defence in the New Era”, released on Wednesday, the Chinese government said the PLA had yet to complete the basic task of “mechanisation” while armed forces elsewhere were applying more sophisticated, information-based technology.
“War is evolving towards informationised warfare, and intelligent warfare is on the horizon,” the report said.
“China’s military security is confronting risks from ... a growing technological generation gap. Greater efforts have to be invested in military modernisation to meet national security demands. The PLA still lags far behind the world’s leading militaries.”
The PLA is catching up in the hardware shortages but the biggest problem is in software, which involves human expertise
Naval expert Li Jie said the PLA was only a decade or so into a major modernisation of its military equipment and there was still a great distance to overcome.
“There are so many examples of this, like [China’s] aircraft carriers, which are at least two generations behind the US carriers, and strategic nuclear submarines, and strategic bombers,” Li said.