The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

4. Innovation consists of making leap-frog developments
and breakthroughs in key areas. 17
OVERALL STRATEGY
The gangyao also led to the development of a fourpart
overall strategy to implement informationization
in the PLA. The four parts of this strategy include: correct
recognition of informationized warfare requirements,
technology development, leveraging civilian
information technology for military use, and leap-frog
development.
Correct Recognition of Informationized Warfare
Requirements.
One of the primary hindrances to the development
of integrative C4ISR technologies in the PLA is the
lack of understanding of the exact nature of informationized
war. Doubts or misunderstandings remain
over the conduct of informationized war and how to
fight it. The main reason for this is the PLA’s lack of
recent warfighting experience and the inability of PLA
officers to accurately conceptualize the demands of
modern war. 18 In broad terms, the PLA is to expand
into three new operational areas that will require it
to develop six capabilities: rapid response, precision
strike, information offense and defense, situational
awareness, command decisionmaking, and precision
support. 19 The three new operational areas that these
capabilities are to support are:
1. Information: The PLA is to use information technology
to improve operations;
2. Outer Space: The PLA is to develop military
space technologies and equipment to seize the high
ground of space before the enemy; and,
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