Chinese state-run media outlet People’s Daily republished a military web article detailing how artificial intelligence (AI) is “rapidly transforming electronic warfare and reshaping modern combat.” Key points from the article are translated below.
Traditional electronic warfare systems rely on preset threat databases to identify enemy radar signals, leaving them slow and ineffective against new or unknown technologies. As battlefields become more complex and radar systems evolve, these legacy systems may take hours to analyze unfamiliar signals—an unacceptable delay in modern combat.
With AI integration, electronic warfare systems gain autonomous learning capabilities, enabling real-time analysis of unknown radar signals. By comparing vast amounts of historical and real-time data, AI-driven systems can interpret new signals within seconds rather than hours, dramatically enhancing combat effectiveness. AI also supports advanced deception tactics, such as generating highly realistic false targets that simultaneously mislead enemy radar, communications, and guidance systems. This can cause opponents to waste firepower on decoys while actual forces exploit gaps in defenses.
The article highlights countermeasures against AI-powered electronic warfare, including dynamic frequency hopping, quantum encryption, AI-generated decoys, and resilient network design with redundant communication links and mobile monitoring stations. It concludes that intelligent electronic warfare is moving from experimental theory to active deployment, with algorithms becoming decisive in combat outcomes. Mastery of algorithmic competition and system resilience is thus essential for gaining the upper hand in future conflicts.
Source: People’s Daily, January 1, 2026
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2026/0101/c1011-40637264.html