Stephen Chen
China matches Nato inwards information arms race amongst bargain for ‘Ferrari of state of war room software’
Luciad, a defense contractor based inwards Leuven, Belgium, is selling the Chinese authorities high performance software used for situational awareness yesteryear the state of war machine commands of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, according to information from Chinese authorities contractors verified yesteryear the South China Morning Post. The parcel includes LuciadLightspeed, a computer program that tin procedure real-time data, including that from fast-moving objects, amongst speed in addition to accuracy.
Situational awareness is the powerfulness to know what is happening inwards a target environs in addition to usage that intelligence to defeat the enemy. In warfare, the province of affairs is in addition to thus fluid it tin alter inwards seconds.
Planners usage information from sources such every bit drone feeds, satellite imagery, radar, sensor plots, conditions forecasts in addition to platoon status. Traditional software tin innovate errors every bit large every bit 500 metres (1,600 feet) inwards the positioning of moving targets from dissimilar datastreams.
Luciad’s software tin analyse information in addition to generate seamless visuals at a speed of 100 calculations a second, 75 times faster than its closest competitor, amongst accuracy to inside 3cm (one inch) in addition to on a global scale, according to American graphics engineering companionship Nvidia.
This allows planners to visualise in addition to analyse changes inwards enemy positions or assess target information inwards existent fourth dimension in addition to conform mission parameters accordingly, according to Nvidia.
The same software is used yesteryear the U.S.A. of America Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base inwards Tampa, Florida, where covert missions for the US authorities – including the raid that assassinated al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden inwards Islamic Republic of Pakistan inwards 2011, originated.
Under Chinese law, a unusual vendor supplying software to the Chinese authorities must bring out every business of source code to authorities for a safety check. It was unclear whether Luciad has complied amongst that requirement. The companionship did non answer to requests for comment.
Adopting engineering used yesteryear Nato inwards state of war machine command may non travel without adventure to China, according to a Beijing-based information safety skillful who has worked amongst the government.
The software mightiness incorporate hidden codes. “It tin atomic number 82 to unauthorised infiltration of the encephalon of Chinese state of war machine operations,” the researcher said.
Although the state of war machine network was physically isolated from the network in addition to protected yesteryear firewalls, in that place was “always a possibility of finding a means inwards in addition to bypassing all safety checks”, he said.
Alternatively, studying the software, particularly at source-code level, would offering China a perspective on the state of war room operations of Western powers.
“Sometimes a comment [an explanation or notation inwards the source code of a calculator program] tin say a story,” the researcher said.
China operates 1 of the world’s largest state of war machine intelligence gathering systems in addition to its sophistication is increasing. It has an expanding network of satellites – nearly of which serve the authorities or the People’s Liberation Army – that is instant inwards lay out exclusively to the US.
Monitoring devices are planted inwards the world’s oceans from the South China Sea to the American West Coast. Conventional weapons such every bit landmines are evolving amongst the usage of artificial intelligence.
The Chinese state of war machine in addition to intelligence services monitor civilian sectors including the internet, surveillance photographic television set camera networks in addition to social media for information in addition to threat analysis.
This creates a large in addition to urgent need for advanced information processing software, according to manufacture experts.
“Luciad is the Ferrari of GIS software. It comes to the correct identify at the correct time,” said a geospatial information engineer from an aerospace companionship inwards Beijing.
Over the yesteryear few months, senior technical staff amongst the Chinese authorities in addition to major contractors remove maintain taken crash courses on the novel software inwards Beijing.
One was hosted inwards June yesteryear Key Mapper, a geospatial information service provider inwards China. In 1 exercise, a tutor from Luciad provided information on San Francisco to demonstrate the software’s function.
“Through this training, the participants non exclusively remove maintain a deep agreement of Luciad’s sum attain of products, but tin also independently usage the products to develop related applications,” the companionship said on its website.
Key Mapper confirmed on Mon that it was an official reseller of Luciad software licensed to Chinese authorities clients.
The Beijing-based companionship declined to bring out farther details because of the sensitivity of the technology.
Luciad was established yesteryear Dr Lode Missiaen, a senior scientist who had worked at the Nato Consultation, Command in addition to Control Agency inwards The Hague, the Netherlands, inwards the 1990s.
Missiaen, responsible for the evolution in addition to application of modern software technologies for Nato’s air traffic command in addition to airspace management, recognised the lack of commercial software that could combine geographic in addition to real-time information.
He left Nato in addition to founded Luciad inwards 1999 to fill upwardly the gap, but it was non until 2008 that Nato fully adopted the novel engineering at its command centres to generate pictures for large concealment display inwards state of war rooms.
Luciad’s software is straight off used non exclusively yesteryear Nato fellow member nations but also yesteryear major arms contractors, including Boeing, Airbus Defence in addition to Space, Lockheed Martin in addition to Thales.
The companionship was bought concluding yr yesteryear Hexagon, a engineering grouping based inwards Sweden.
Hexagon has established ties amongst the Chinese state of war machine in addition to defense industry. Its engineering has been used yesteryear the manufacturer of China’s stealth aircraft.
It was unclear whether the Luciad software sale inwards China occurred afterward the acquisition. Hexagon did non answer to the Post’s queries.
Professor Wu Lun, manager of the geographic information systems subdivision at Peking University in addition to a senior adviser to the Chinese authorities on geospatial information technology, said the nearly pop unusual GIS platform inwards China at introduce was ArcGIS, a commercial software developed yesteryear the Environmental Systems Research Institute inwards California.
While it had closed to state of war machine application, “ArcGIS is mainly used for civilian projects”, he said.
For safety concerns, the Chinese authorities has promoted home-grown GIS software for authorities in addition to state of war machine applications, in addition to closed to suppliers such every bit SuperMap in addition to MapGIS had come upwardly up amongst “quite capable in addition to competitive products”, he said.
“But dissimilar clients remove maintain dissimilar demands. Foreign in addition to domestic software volition coexist for a long time,” Wu said.
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