Caroline Y. Tirk and Eli B. Tirk
ASSESSMENTS OF UAVS IN PLA DOCTRINAL EDUCATION TEXTS
PLA authoritative academic texts have long emphasized the importance of unmanned systems and their contributions to ISR and other information support missions on the future battlefield. Published in 2003, Integrated Aerospace Information Warfare (空天一体信息作战) outlines UAVs’ ability to surveil an enemy’s rear area and guide munitions onto targets as an important use case of these systems. 10 The 2006 Science of Campaigns discusses UAVs in the limited role of supporting suppression of enemy air defense operations using electronic jammers and kinetic strike, tactics inspired by Israel’s UAV employment against Syrian air defenses in 1982.11 By 2009, the textbook Precision Operations Command remarks that UAVs had already become the primary means of battlefield reconnaissance, target designation, and damage assessment. 12 The 2013 edition of the PLA Academy of Military Science’s Science of Military Strategy (SMS) reflects an expanded interest in UAVs, emphasizing that unmanned systems have played an increasingly prominent role in an increasingly multi-dimensional battlefield, and in concert with other technologies would eventually cause revolutionary changes in operational theory, operational patterns, and ultimately the structure of nation’s militaries.13 The 2020 edition of SMS, published by the National Defense University, identifies the supporting role of intelligent unmanned systems as indispensable for modern military operations.14 The 2020 edition of SMS highlights that UAVs carried by surface ships can enable reconnaissance of larger areas and better early warning at sea.15 Over time, these publications have expanded their descriptions of UAVs roles and importance to overall military modernization.
ISR, TARGETING, AND BDA MISSIONS
PLA-affiliated authors contend that UAVs increasingly contribute to ISR operations. Overall, UAVs have expanded the “three-dimensional” nature of the battlefield by operating from high altitudes to extremely low altitudes and being able to effectively conduct close-range reconnaissance. 16 This section summarizes how PLA-affiliated authors describe UAV ISRTargeting (ISR-T) missions across domains
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