Russian-Chinese collaboration on 5G and satellite technologies could give Russia an advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine and could feasibly be applied in other theaters, including a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a report by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security (RUSI) published on Friday said.
Russia and China have already tested the use of shared 5G technology to control uncrewed dump trucks at a Russian mine, and have tested the integration of their respective navigation systems, Russia’s GLONASS and China’s BeiDou, the report said.
“In Ukraine, GLONASS has already enabled Russian missile and drone strikes via satellite correction and supported communications between Russian troops,” the report said, adding that “Russia could exploit BeiDou’s ability to facilitate the navigation and tracking of autonomous
Photo: AP
vehicles for strategic attacks with missiles and drones.”
Russia has already entered into a number of agreements with China on the development of 5G, with Russia’s MTS and Beeline signing deals with China’s Huawei, the report said. Huawei and MTS set data-transfer speed records in 2021 after they launched commercial 5G services in Moscow, while Huawei and Beeline collaborated to facilitate remote surgical operations performed by Russia’s Global Medical System Hospital, it said.
On the battlefield, 5G would facilitate enhanced tracking of military objects, faster transferring of soldiers’ biometrics or high-resolution drone images, and enhanced communications, including between autonomous vehicles, it said, adding that China could help Russia meet its needs with 5G.
China’s BeiDou would also be helpful to Russia on the battlefield, as Russia had agreed for China to build a BeiDou monitoring system in the Russian town of Obninsk, which is near Ukraine, it said.
“Russia has repeatedly tested GLONASS/BeiDou compatibility on Russian transport routes along the Belt and Road corridor,” it said. “Tentative results from 2017 and 2018 claimed improved satellite navigation in 100% of monitored cases.”
The improved satellite data could be used by Russia in Ukraine to collect battlefield imagery, weather and terrain data, and to improve logistics management, track troop movements, and increase the accuracy of identifying and destroying ground targets, it said.
RUSI research analyst and co-author of the report Jack Crawford said that although cooperation between China and Russia has not always been smooth sailing, Russia has gained an advantage in its war efforts through working with China.
Cooperation between the countries would also bolster China’s 5G and satellite capabilities, which are of great significance to its potential plans for military aggression toward Taiwan, he said.
Broadly speaking, Russia’s willingness to cooperate with China, Iran and North Korea to continue its invasion of Ukraine also means that a deeper rift between these governments and the West is beginning to appear, and it is increasingly difficult to bridge, the authors said.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS