Informationized Warfare

It refers to wars waged in multi-dimensional space of land, sea, air, sky and cyber electromagnetics as well as in all cognitive fields by relying on the networked information system, using informational weaponry and corresponding combat methods, and with the system-based confrontation as the main form. It is the basic form of war in the information age. Informatized wars includes integrated joint operations, targeted operations, information firepower warfare, space warfare, informationized warfare, cyber warfare, information psychological warfare, and other combat types. With the development of information technology, information has become increasingly prominent in the elements of combat power, and its role in wars has gradually emerged. Taking the Gulf War as a sign, a new form of war is being formed and developed. After the Kosovo War, China’s military theorists began to frequently use the term “informationized warfare”, which originated from Qian Xuesen. In 1995, Qian Xuesen pointed out in a written speech at the first Science and Technology Exchange Conference of the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense that “the current and upcoming form of war is informationized warfare under nuclear deterrence”, who innovatively put forward the concept of “informationized warfare” for the first time.

The White Paper on “China's National Defense in 2004” pointed out that the People's Liberation Army, actively promotes the information-based military revolution with Chinese characteristics with building an informatized army and winning an informatized war as the goal, and informationization as the development direction and strategic focus of modernization. After Xi Jinping became the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, he further emphasized the construction of a modern military power system with Chinese characteristics that can win informationized warfare and effectively fulfill its mission. The form of war is a part of that of the technological society of human beings, and the form of the technological society determines that of war. The basic form of war in the industrial age is mechanized war, and the basic form of war in the information age is informationized war.This is a completely new form of warfare, mainly manifested in the following aspects: (1) It mainly uses information technology-led weapon and equipment systems; (2) It uses information as its main strategic resource; (3) It takes information-centric warfare as its basic mode of operation; (4) It takes fighting for information resources as the battlefield goal; (5) Informationized armed forces are the main actors; (6) It implements war guidance based on the informationized military theory.

The biggest difference between informationized warfare and previous wars is that the status and role of information have changed. As a new type of resource, information has changed the mode of action of matter and energy, and thus changed the winning mechanism of combat. It has undoubtedly become a new dominant resource for generating combat effectiveness. Informationized warfare has some distinctive features: (1) Blurred boundary between war and peace. In addition to the hard wars with firepower and casualties, informationized warfare may also be soft wars without casualties. Soft wars are in particular soundless, stirless and imperceptible. (2) Complex causes of war. In addition to conflicts of economic interest, political, diplomatic, and cultural conflicts are intertwined and complex. (3) More diverse war actors. Non-state actors, non-governmental organizations, multinational groups, terrorist organizations, etc., can also launch wars. (4) Expanding connotations of the concept of war. Globalization of the battlefield, multidimensional warfare space, systematic combat methods, etc. (5) More limited war ends. Pursue limited political ends. (6) Short duration of war. The development of informatized weapon systems enables combat operations to be carried out in real time and targeted strikes to be implemented. (7) The intangible forces of war play a decisive role. Information elements such as computing power, communication capacity and reliability, implementation of reconnaissance capabilities, computer simulation capabilities, etc., will become key indicators for measuring military combat effectiveness. Informationized warfare is a new form of warfare in the information age. Human society is now transitioning from the industrial age to the information age, the global information age has not yet arrived, the informationized war is gradually forming, and the elements of the war form have begun to develop from mechanization to informatization. However, this development is uneven. Some elements have been basically informatized, and some have just begun the informatization process. The military technologies, especially information technologies withness rapid development, military theories suitable for information warfare are being explored, and the inter-era transformation of the military organization system is still in its infancy. Real informatized wars can only appear after most countries enter the information society or the information age and build an informatized army.