The Reality of Modern Warfare Confronted by the Gulf War: The Impact of Information Dominance (Late 1980s-early 1990s)

The Reality of Modern Warfare Confronted by the Gulf War: The Impact of Information Dominance (Late 1980s-early 1990s)

For China, the 1991 Gulf War was a mirror of its own future, even though it was a war in another country. Air superiority and precision-guided weapons, satellite communications, and real-time command and control clearly demonstrated that information processing capabilities, rather than troop size and bravery, would determine the victor. Through this war, the People's Liberation Army understood that modern warfare is not a contest of firepower, but a battle over the acquisition, sharing, and interception of information. With the international order in flux after the Cold War, China began to hasten the creation of a system to control information in anticipation of a short-term local war.