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CASI Toolkit for China- PLA Army article

The CASI Commander's Toolkit for China is a series of articles with accompanying pre-made presentations to help Airmen, Guardians, and all members of the DOD, USG, American Public, and Allies and Partners writ large, better understand the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) People's Liberation Army

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The Truth about the Sino-Russian Combined Patrols

This article was published as part of the cooperation between CASI and the Japanese Air Self Defense Force's Air and Space Studies Institute (JASI)The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has conducted nine “combined strategic aerial patrols” with the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS)

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China is practicing orbital warfare to win in space

Dr. Brendan S. Mulvaney takes a look at what we should be paying attention from China in the Space Domain in a SpaceNews OpEd

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China’s SJ-6 Satellites—Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures

The recent on-orbit behavior of China’s Shi Jian 6 (SJ-6) satellite series, together with newly acquired commercial non-Earth imagery (NEI), helps expand our existing knowledge of the satellite constellations’ tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). As of January 2025, China appears to

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CASI Quarterly update #2 for 2025

CASI Quarterly update#2 for 2025Friends of CASI, This quarter saw the biennial CMSI conference, which was a terrific event despite the challenges they faced. Kudos to the whole CMSI team and the people who wrote papers for them. We look forward to reading them all. We alternate

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China’s Strategic Hinterland: Enhancing New-Quality Combat Capabilities in Sichuan

During an inspection tour in Sichuan in July 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping designated Sichuan Province as a “national strategic hinterland” [国家战略腹地], emphasizing its unique and significant role in China’s overall development. Designating Sichuan as the only national strategic hinterland in

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The Oriental Maritime Space Port: China's Sea-Based Expansion

China’s fifth spaceport, the Oriental Maritime Space Port (OMSP) [东方航天港], also known as the Dongfang Spaceport, in Shandong Province, is a facility responsible for both the manufacture and launch of rockets. The Port represents a significant step forward in China's ambitious expansion of its space

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China’s Lunar Space Situational Awareness—An Update

China has three new projects for lunar space situational awareness (SSA) that will increase its ability to observe progress on the Moon and detect changes in the surrounding volume. This brief report is an update to prior research on China’s ground and space-based systems for SSA beyond

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Tiananmen Square: The Declassified History - w/ postscript 2025

The Chinese army crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests killed thousands of people, up to 10,000 according to released declassified UK documents. The figure was given in a secret diplomatic cable from then British ambassador to China, Sir Alan Donald written on 5 June 1989. The cable is in

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Checking in on Modernization and Reforms in the People’s Liberation Army

Nearly a decade ago, in a study guide of his collected writings for the military, Chinese leader XI Jinping asserted the crucial need for a quality military force from the “grassroots” up: “Without grassroots officers and soldiers, no matter how grand the strategy, it cannot be realized, and no

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Deterring China's Use of Force in the Space Domain

This report examines the evolving deterrence dynamics between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the space domain. During the Cold War, nuclear deterrence helped maintain the peace between the United States and the Soviet Union, and it remains a cornerstone of U.S.

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TAKING FLIGHT: CHINA’S MILITARY UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) INDUSTRY

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms, are a core element of the PRC’s military modernization program. The PLA has operated UAVs since the 1950s. While aerial drones are not a new technology, contemporary UAV systems are improving rapidly due to

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The Real Space Race: China Will Send a Crew to Orbit Mars by 2050

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) scientific community established China’s broad timelines for crewed Lunar and Mars missions simultaneously in 2009. At that time, the Chinese Academy of Science’s (CAS’s) 40-year technology forecast called Space Science & Technology in China: A Roadmap to

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CHINA’S CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO COUNTER-UAS AND LESSONS DRAWN FROM RECENT CONFLICTS

The concept of unmanned warfare has gained prominence as technological advancements and the deployment of unmanned systems in recent conflicts have demonstrated their battlefield utility. PLA scholars and strategists have monitored these developments closely and formed a consensus view that future

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The People’s Liberation Army at the Nexus of Mind and Technology to Shape the Cognitive Battlefield

Check out this new publication on "Human, Machine, War: How the Mind-Tech Nexus Will Win Future Wars" with a chapter from CASI's own Josh Baughman on the #PLA available for free at:https://media.defense.gov/2025/Apr/18/2003694020/-1/-1/1/B-188%20HMW%20FINAL%204.8.25%20-%20WITH%20508%20CHECK.PDF

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PLA CONCEPTS OF UAV SWARMS AND MANNED/UNMANNED TEAMING

Manned/unmanned teaming techniques and swarm tactics are an increasingly visible aspect of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) military modernization effort, with even the slightest hints of operationalization within the PLA’s various arms attracting considerable Western media attention. Indeed,

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PLA INFORMATION SUPPORT TO THE BATTLEFIELD: UAV EMPLOYMENT CONCEPTS AND CHALLENGES

China’s extensive investments in unmanned systems and their incorporation into informatized and eventually intelligentized warfare is a central component of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) modernization. The PLA Services—particularly the PLA Army (PLAA), PLA Navy (PLAN), and PLA Air Force

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ITOW: Research on Intelligent Planning of On-Orbit Servicing Tasks

The “In Their Own Words” series is dedicated to translations of Chinese documents in order to help non-Mandarin speaking audiences access and understand Chinese thinking. CASI would like to thank all of those involved in this effort. In the “In Their Own Words” series, CASI and its collaborators aim

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CASI Quarterly update #1 for 2025

Friends of CASI, Yet another busy quarter to start off the year. CASI remains actively engaged across the full spectrum of our Charter- Research, Warfighter Support, Education, and Engagement. Let us know how CASI can support your mission.Personnel: Things are steady for the

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Adapting to the PLA’s Near Constant Satellite Surveillance

The U.S. and Chinese militaries have something new in common. Both must now operate under each other’s nearly constant satellite surveillance. Luckily, the United States has a legacy tool to alert commanders of foreign satellite overflights; the U.S. military just needs to consistently use it,

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Latest CASI News

CASI Toolkit for China- PLA Army article

The Truth about the Sino-Russian Combined Patrols

China is practicing orbital warfare to win in space

China’s SJ-6 Satellites—Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures

CASI Quarterly update #2 for 2025

China’s Strategic Hinterland: Enhancing New-Quality Combat Capabilities in Sichuan

The Oriental Maritime Space Port: China's Sea-Based Expansion

China’s Lunar Space Situational Awareness—An Update

Tiananmen Square: The Declassified History - w/ postscript 2025

Checking in on Modernization and Reforms in the People’s Liberation Army

Deterring China's Use of Force in the Space Domain

TAKING FLIGHT: CHINA’S MILITARY UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) INDUSTRY

The Real Space Race: China Will Send a Crew to Orbit Mars by 2050

CHINA’S CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO COUNTER-UAS AND LESSONS DRAWN FROM RECENT CONFLICTS

The People’s Liberation Army at the Nexus of Mind and Technology to Shape the Cognitive Battlefield

PLA CONCEPTS OF UAV SWARMS AND MANNED/UNMANNED TEAMING

PLA INFORMATION SUPPORT TO THE BATTLEFIELD: UAV EMPLOYMENT CONCEPTS AND CHALLENGES

ITOW: Research on Intelligent Planning of On-Orbit Servicing Tasks

CASI Quarterly update #1 for 2025

Adapting to the PLA’s Near Constant Satellite Surveillance