High-altitude spy balloons from China are linked to the nation's hypersonic missile program, according to a new report.
Knewz.com has learned that the report, prepared by a group of researchers at China's National University of Defense Technology, was made public in Beijing in October.
The U.S. Air Force shot down an alleged spy balloon from China on the South Carolina coast in February 2023.
Spy balloons have been used by China for surveillance and gathering info from far away targets for a while now, but the latest findings linked them with something deadlier.
The spy balloons fall under the command of the Strategic Support Force, a separate branch of the military in China in charge of espionage, cyberattacks, and electronic and psychological warfare.
According to the reports prepared by the National University of Defense Technology entitled Near Space Operations Command, the military of China is trying to set up a command that would control both high-altitude surveillance balloons as well as hypersonic missiles.
The new operations command China is trying to set will also control solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles and other support equipment, in addition to a repertoire of numerous spy balloons.
Hypersonic missiles are something China is a "world leader" in, according to The Washington Times. Citing a recent annual report by the congressional U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the outlet stated that the ones possessed by China can be armed with both nuclear and conventional warheads.
According to the report prepared by the National University of Defense Technology, hypersonic missiles are capable of striking precise targets within minutes of launch and can avoid air defense systems mid-flight.
"Hypersonic weapons can attack rocket launch sites, [destroying] the enemy’s ability to fire anti-satellite missiles on our civilian satellite networks... These attacks must be precise, overwhelming and merciless. This could change the pace of battles and bring a major impact to how a war would end," the report stated, according to The Washington Times.
According to the report, China is modernizing its arsenal with the new command center as part of its efforts to usher in the age of "near space combat," i.e. conflicts in the high-altitude aerial zone which constitutes a rather gray area vis-a-vis international laws.
Experts from China have theorized that this is where future conflicts will take place, as the "near space" is essentially sovereign airspace out of legal reach.
"The understanding of near-space combat command needs to be deepened... It is necessary to adjust the hierarchy of command and control powers, selection of command methods, implementation of executive orders and support for command communication," reads the research report from the National University of Defense Technology.
However, Michael Listner, founder and principal of Space Law and Policy Solutions, has contested China's claims about "near space" being a sovereign lawless zone, claiming that the nation is deliberately trying to stir legal ambiguity and calling China's argument a "dangerous" one.
"Legally, there is no such creature as ‘near-space’... The stratospheric region above a sovereign nation is still sovereign airspace. But it appears the PRC is initiating a lawfare operation to create a legal ambiguity to justify not only balloon flights, but hypersonic weapons as well," said Listner.
According to The Washington Times, a report by the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command’s joint operational law team also echoes Listner's statement: "There is no ‘near space’ in international law – only airspace and outer space, and [high-altitude balloons] fly in airspace."
