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Technology Conflict Zones Of 21st Century by Priyanshu Ojha

"Major militaries around the world have started rigorous modernization of their equipment and troops. But at the same time, they are also expanding their “spheres of operation” to new domains." Technology, although developed as a boon has the capacity to become a bane, if utilized by those with oppositional and hidden interests. Read on, as our contributor, Priyanshu Ojha, elaborates on cyber warfare and the second-space race.



Introduction: New theatres of warfare


The 21st century has witnessed a quick transformation in military tactics with the advent of highly sophisticated technologies. The military tactics have now shifted from conventional to virtual and electronic domains. Major militaries around the world have started rigorous modernization of their equipment and troops. But at the same time, they are also expanding their “spheres of operation” to new domains. The three such domains are: Cyber warfare (CW), Electronic warfare (EW) and the second space race. All three are interconnected and interdependent technologically. “Cyber Warfare (CW) and Electronic Warfare (EW) are crucial to combat in modern warfare. Both are products of Signals Intelligence and constitute one part of Information Warfare (IW) and what is known as Network Centric Warfare (NCW). “ [1]


Cyber Warfare


Today cyber-attack is the most immediate threat to a country’s information network. We are living in a world connected and interconnected through internet. Our banking systems, cellular networks, military communication, stock markets, ticketing system of airlines and railways, air traffic control, just a few in the long list, are all dependent on the satellite communication and fiber optics. They all come under the category of “critical infrastructure of a country”. The public safety department of Canada provides a functional definition of critical infrastructure (CI): “CI refers to processes, systems, facilities, technologies, networks, assets and services essential to the health, safety, security or economic well-being of Canadians and the effective functioning of government. Disruptions of CI could result in catastrophic loss of life, adverse economic effects and significant harm to public confidence.” [2] Therefore, cyberspace comes under the domain of ‘national security’.


The fundamental changes in the sociology and economics of the society and in international relations in the past two decades are all purely attributed to information technology revolution. Armed with IT and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the modern state is much stronger and more informed about its citizens and intelligence flows very quickly.


Two things are clear from the above facts:

1. States have recognized the cyber space as an instrument of governance;

2. It has emerged as the security threat and hence the part of military strategy.


It is important at first to understand the meaning of ‘cyber’ and elements of cyber warfare. According to Oxford English Dictionary, cyber warfare is, “the use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization especially the deliberate attacking of information system for strategic and military purposes.” Martin Libicki defined it as “command and control of computers”. [3]


The cyber-attack may be of low intensity like hacking a website, social media account or stealing private information. The high intensity attacks are” designed to penetrate computer systems or an electronic grid”. [4] A cyber-attack can be categorized into three “motivations”: (1) financial (Bangladesh bank robbery, 2016); (2) espionage and attack on CI (virus penetration into Iran’s nuclear reactors) and; (3) political (alleged Russian interference in US elections). [5]


Suppose, what will happen if a malware attacks the stock market or national electric grid? What will happen if some unidentified system hacks the air traffic control or satellite control centre? This can result in failure of multiple systems in interconnected network. RAND Corporation issued a report in 2019 which examined the cyber coercion as a military policy of four countries, namely, Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Note that all four are non-democratic regimes.


The most threatening is the attack on nuclear power plant and the nuclear missile control (if someone be able to identify and penetrate). Trans-oceanic fiber optics network can also be an easy target. Remember the Russian submarines that were seen near global internet lines in 2015 and 2019! This discussion will be incomplete without looking at China’s state-owned Huawei Technologies, which is posing a threat to data and electronics industry around the world and consequently banned by US, Japan, Australia and UK. Providing 5G network, Huawei can access CI of any country whose consequences cannot be calculated right now. Do not you think that Google can be minacious, with access to 2.5 billion android devices across globe?


Electronic Warfare


According to Don E. Gordon, “Electronic warfare includes all actions in the entire electromagnetic spectrum to intercept, analyze, manipulate or suppress the enemy’s use of the spectrum as well as to protect friendly use of spectrum from similar attack by an enemy. The electromagnetic spectrum includes both visible and invisible ranges, measured in megahertz. The use of signals in intercepting, locating, identifying, jamming, disrupting, deceiving, protecting, analyzing and cryptonalyzing is electronic warfare.” [6] It is, however, a part of conventional warfare but a non-conventional force multiplier for ground, air or naval forces.

Systems and applications of EW include electromagnetic spectrum (EMS)–radio, infrared, radar or microwave, radio wave sensing, network jamming. “Military applications include ground and airborne radar, electronic warfare including guided weapons, and satellite communications; civilian applications include microwave radar (for police, small boats, intruder alarms, and door openers), direct broadcast satellites (12 GHz), and mobile (1–3 GHz band) as well as cellular (∼1 GHz) communications.” Website of US defense giant, Lockheed Martin divides EW into four categories–Surface EW, Ground EW, Airborne EW and Cyber EW. [7]


EW system can detect an incoming missile and help the naval ships to avoid threat and also provides a wide range map of naval vessels. In the battlefield, EMS devices jam and intercept the communication of enemy force. The most fascinating is the IED detection and premature explosion using strong EMS. Also, once the local area network is jammed, remote explosion of IED by enemy becomes impossible. Other uses of EMS are in stealth technology and missile interception (Iron Dome, S400, THAAD). Stealth technology intends to make aircraft, armoured vehicle or naval vessel less detectible from radar, sonar or any electronic detection. Examples include F-35 and F-22 of US army, China’s J-20 and Russia’s Su-57.


The Second Space Race


Telecommunications on earth are relayed through satellites in orbit. Since telecommunication network is CI for a country, satellite systems are also a part of CI. In the last two decades, four countries have tested anti-satellite weaponry, namely US, Russia, China and India, which has intensified the vulnerability of satellite systems.

There is also an overlapping of CW and EW with respect to satellites; “...in the case of satellite systems, spoofing and jamming which fall within the domain of electronic warfare would be the most natural and effective methods for crashing and capturing UAVs. Satellite signals are highly vulnerable to spoofing attacks as are UAVs. Jamming involves deliberate transmission of radio frequency signals to disrupt the transmission of other radio signals.” [8]


What makes the outer space a domain of modern warfare is the declaration of US and France to have Space Forces as a separate unit of their militaries. Military use of space is prevented by Outer Space Treaty of 1967 but still satellites are used for military reconnaissance and the number of reconnaissance satellites has increased considerably in past two decades.


Third development in the direction of making it ‘second space race’ is the so called “colonization of space”. There has been a boom in the private runners for commercial use of space, such as SpaceX and Origin Blue. There is a race between prime space agencies to send manned missions to moon and mars and to install space stations in the orbit. It gives us déjà vu situation of space race between USSR and US. Therefore, space diplomacy this time will be more competitive than it was during the cold war as more countries involved including commercial interests.

Endnotes

[1] [8] https://www.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/OP203.pdf

[2] Department of public safety, Canada. https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/crtcl-nfrstrctr/cci-iec-en.aspx

[3][4] The Impact of cyber warfare on nuclear deterrence a conceptual and empirical overview. https://www.orfonline.org/research/the-impact-of-cyber-warfare-on-nuclear-deterrence-a-conceptual-and-empirical-overview-45305/

[5] Understanding and countering coercion in cyberspace, RAND Corporation

[6] Don E. Gordon, in Electronic Warfare, 1981

[7] Lockheed Martin, US https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/electronic-warfare/cyber-electronic-warfare.html

Milton Ohring, Lucian Kasprzak, in Reliability and Failure of Electronic Materials and Devices (Second Edition), 2015

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