A Chinese artificial intelligence company has been tracking U.S. military operations in the Middle East, threatening U.S. forces engaged in the conflict in Iran, according to congressional testimony made public Wednesday.
Kari A. Bingen, director of the aerospace security project at the Center for Strategic International Studies, told a House subcommittee that U.S. commercial satellite companies, by contrast, have withheld imagery that details military movements in order to protect national security and avoid aiding adversaries.
Chinese companies, however, are continuing to provide similar data to adversaries, Ms. Bingen stated in prepared testimony to the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee in Europe.
“A Chinese artificial intelligence company, MizarVision, has publicly showcased its ability to track U.S. military assets and movements using satellite imagery, Iran has acquired a Chinese imagery satellite, and Russia has supported Iranian operations with its own imagery,” Ms. Bingen states.
China has emerged as a military threat in space under what President Xi Jinping calls a “space dream” for Beijing to dominate the realm by 2049, she stated.
Ms. Bingen stated that China, as well as Russia and others, are “developing and fielding an array of counterspace weapons to threaten U.S. and allied space capabilities, whether targeting satellites in orbit, their signals to/from the ground, or terrestrial equipment.”
“These counterspace weapons are being developed across attack modalities, including cyber operations, jamming and spoofing of electronic transmissions, lasers, direct ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missiles, and co-orbital ASATs,” she said.
China’s space weapons are capable of reaching satellites in all orbits, from low-Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit 23,000 miles high, Ms. Bingen said.
“Recent years have seen Chinese satellites conducting what one U.S. Space Force general described as ’dogfighting’ maneuvers in low Earth orbit (LEO), along with unusual movements in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), including a reported first-ever orbital refueling demonstration in GEO,” she stated.
The goal of space weaponry in the hands of adversaries is to degrade U.S. military capabilities in fighting and winning wars and to disrupt day-to-day life of Americans, Ms. Bingen said.
Supporting China’s space weapons are a large number of satellites that are being integrated into military operations and “kill chains” for advanced weapons that have been observed practicing targeting of U.S. warships, airfields, and ports, she stated.
