Electromagnetic Denial Must Be a Primary Mission

U.S. Naval Institute | Sergeant William P. Lester

The U.S. Navy must dominate the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) to deter Chinese aggression, shifting its strategy from merely surviving network denial to actively denying EMS access to adversaries. China's People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is numerically expanding and improving combat integration, posing a significant threat in the South China Sea, particularly concerning a potential Taiwan invasion or blockade.

Such an invasion, a complex amphibious assault, would require secure communication for a diverse fleet, making it highly vulnerable to U.S. electromagnetic harassment and denial. An outnumbered U.S. fleet's primary mission should be EM-denial to confuse the enemy and delay objectives. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty is outdated regarding nonkinetic antisatellite (ASAT) capabilities like electromagnetic jamming and cyber operations. While the U.S. has a kinetic ASAT moratorium, adversaries like India, Russia, and China are developing these. The Navy should cooperate with the Space Force and Air Force to develop tactical EM/cyber ASATs. The U.S. military must also transition to resilient "full-mesh" communication topologies, store vital operational data offline on ships, and train small-unit commanders for semiautonomous offline warfighting.

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