PLA Reorganizes Space Information Support and Assurance Mission

(Kristin Burke – The Jamestown Foundation) The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) restructuring of its space information support and assurance forces further deepens its reliance on space for communications, navigation, and reconnaissance. The PLA is transitioning most—but not yet all—of the battlefield space information support and assurance mission to the Information Support Force (ISF) and the growing Chinese commercial space sector, freeing up the Aerospace Force (ASF) to build specialized capabilities and plans for offensive and defensive ground and space-based operations. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) approval for a new civilian university to support communications, navigation, and reconnaissance ground-to-space integration not only helps smooth the handoff between the ASF and the ISF, but also demonstrates progress towards the PRC’s national plan for “air-space-ground integration.” – PLA Reorganizes Space Information Support and Assurance Mission – Jamestown