Forests of antennas are popping up across the South China Sea. According to New York Post, this is further evidence of Beijing’s determination to dominate the strategic international waterway.

According to the International affairs think tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Beijing is “taking major steps toward improving its electronic warfare, communications, and intelligence-gathering capabilities near the South China Sea.”

And that means potentially turning the contested waterway into a communication and navigation “dead zone.”

Last year, a Chinese news claimed a US combat aircraft “lost control” while flying over the South China Sea. “All the instruments in the cabin were chaotic,” as per the news claimed. It added, “The fighter planes were completely out of control and could not communicate with the outside world, but they did not know what happened.”

The claim appears to relate to a 2018 incident in which US Navy EA-18G Growler aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt reported jamming of their equipment. Pilots, however, said they were never put in any danger.

A recent warning was given by Brookings Institution that, “The war of the future will not only be about explosions, but will also be about disabling the systems that make armies run.”

It added, “We could see effects as stodgy as making a tank impossible to start up, or sophisticated as retargeting a missile midair.”

Satellite images of China’s island fortresses in the Spratly and Paracel Islands have revealed the presence of large arrays of antennas and satellite dishes. Now China’s been seen rapidly expanding facilities near a town called Mumian on Hainan Island.

Their sensor arrays can detect, record and analyze any transmission — such as radar — in the region. They can attempt to decipher intercepted communications. They can track and communicate with satellites. They can blast targeted areas of the radio spectrum with raw energy to jam signals and the operations of specific electronics. They can manipulate the data being transferred over the airwaves.

The Mumian facility was built in 2018. But fresh satellite imagery reveals it has undergone rapid expansion in recent months.

A new array of four dish antennae tracks and communicate with satellites. And the site’s tower farms which can receive or transmit have also doubled up in size.

Most significantly, however, is the construction of a large new headquarters and barracks facility. And scattered throughout the facility are some 90 vehicles, many carrying their own antennas.

“Most of the recent expansion was completed in a little over a year,” the CSIS report states.

It said, “While significant in their own right, the upgrades at Mumian are part of a broader effort by the PLA to shore up its defensive and offensive electronic capabilities.”

Image Source: New York Post