What Does The Chinese Military Fear?

China is concerned about U.S. communications satellites and its anti-tank missiles.

BEIJING/HONG KONG, March 8 (Reuters) - China needs the capability to shoot down low-earth-orbit Starlink satellites and defend tanks and helicopters against shoulder-fired Javelin missiles, according to Chinese military researchers who are studying Russia's struggles in Ukraine in planning for possible conflict with U.S.-led forces in Asia.

A Reuters review of almost 100 articles in more than 20 defence journals reveals an effort across China's military-industrial complex to scrutinise the impact of U.S. weapons and technology that could be deployed against Chinese forces in a war over Taiwan.

From here.

Also China may be developing laser weapons for its latest jet fighters. But contrary to the speculation in the article quoted below, something like a laser dazzler to thwart optical missile guidance systems and blind opposing pilots seems more likely than a laser system that would actually blow up its targets.

A Chinese government-backed newspaper is floating the idea that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force J-20 might soon fire laser weapons to incinerate opposing aircraft and ground targets.

While the story in the Global Times mentions little to no specifics regarding the maturity of such a plan and does not offer any detail on testing, prototyping or development, the paper does refer to efforts to arm fighter jets with a "laser pod."

It certainly seems realistic that the PLA Air Force would be working on this in an effort to keep pace with the US Air Force.

Lasers are a great tool for aerial interception, as weapons able to travel at the speed of light, there is no time delay. However laser weapons require a large amount of energy to be effective and that is the issue that must be addressed for it to be mounted on an aircraft. . . . 

Questions regarding progress with integrating laser weapons onto fighter jets are largely centered around the need for scalable, transportable sources of mobile power. Should sufficient power to generate scalable power for laser weapons exist in a small enough form factor to integrate onto a fighter jet, then J-20 fired lasers are indeed realistic. How soon is the operative question, as the US Air Force Research Laboratory has been making rapid progress on this issue for many years. . . .

Interestingly, the Chinese Global Times paper says the PLA Air Force has been working on an external “laser pod.” While adding a pod of this kind makes sense in the case of a non-stealthy 4th-generation aircraft such as the Chinese J-10, it would seem difficult to add a pod like this to 5th-generation aircraft without compromising its stealth properties.

From here.