Recently, the South China Morning Post cited a report from a Chinese military magazine stating that China's electronic warfare units successfully used a mobile jamming system in the South China Sea to show an "invisible warship" to a foreign reconnaissance aircraft, making it track a non-existent fake target! This also brought China's "electronic warfare" capabilities into the spotlight.

To many, this sounds like science fiction, but it is an "invisible" confrontation in modern military conflicts. This advanced technology of seizing electromagnetic control, how can it turn a "non-existent" fake target into a lifelike "giant" on radar screens? We really need to elaborate on this.

This is not "Photoshopping," it is "digital magic." To understand the principle of this deception, we first need to know how radar works. The radar of the reconnaissance aircraft continuously emits pulse electromagnetic waves, like shouting. When these electromagnetic waves hit a target (such as a ship), they reflect back as "echoes," and the radar locates the target by measuring two key parameters:

The first is time delay, which is the time it takes for the pulse to go and come back, used to calculate distance. The second is echo strength: the strength of the echo is used to determine the size of the target, i.e., the radar cross-section (RCS).

The electronic warfare unit's job is to intercept the enemy's "shouting" and then respond with a specially crafted "echo," which must be realistic but contains false information.

This involves a core technology: DRFM - Digital Radio Frequency Memory. The key to achieving this highly realistic deception is a core technology called digital radio frequency memory. You can imagine it as an extremely sensitive "digital recorder":

The first step is to eavesdrop on the original sound: when the radar signal (i.e., the "shouting") of the foreign reconnaissance aircraft is transmitted, the Chinese mobile jamming system will intercept it immediately.

The second step is perfect replication: The DRFM system will digitize the analog signal with extremely high precision. It does not store a pre-set signal, but rather the most subtle "fingerprint" of the enemy's radar signal (including frequency, phase, etc.). This is the basis for the fake target to deceive advanced radar systems.

The third step is to turn a "jeep" into an "aircraft carrier."

With the perfectly replicated "original sound," the next step is to create "false information." The report mentions that the system can simulate a "super large vessel up to 300 kilometers away." This is achieved by precisely delaying and modulating the signal.

The jammer deliberately delays the copied signal before sending it back, making the fake target appear far away. For example, if the delay corresponds to 300 kilometers, the reconnaissance aircraft will believe there is a ship there.

The jammer also plays tricks with size, amplifying the signal's power to make it much stronger than a real echo. This makes the fake target appear larger. The stronger the echo, the larger the target the radar judges. Thus, an echo from a small jeep may appear on the reconnaissance aircraft's screen as a mighty aircraft carrier or an amphibious assault ship! In this way, the electronic warfare unit can create one or more false, large, and realistic radar targets in specific sea areas using a single mobile device. This is known as the "fake target signal."

Notably, the report emphasized that this system is "mounted on a small jeep." This gives it significant tactical advantages: the small mobile platform can quickly maneuver, rapidly enter favorable electronic warfare positions, and quickly withdraw after completing the mission, improving its own survival capability.

Electronic warfare operators can move the vehicle and adjust the signal parameters in real-time, making this "ghost warship" appear to have realistic speed, direction, and maneuvering characteristics on the radar screen, just like a real ship. Eventually, this foreign reconnaissance aircraft may be successfully misled by this "ghost warship," wasting valuable flight time, fuel, and intelligence resources chasing a non-existent threat, thus deviating from the surveillance of China's real military forces.

This rare disclosure shows that modern electronic warfare has entered a high-precision "signal information confrontation" era. It is no longer simple interference, but a high-intelligence "deceiving the sky" in the electromagnetic spectrum through digital technology.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7560681950042735138/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author. Please express your opinion below by clicking the [Up/Down] buttons.