The Chinese Global Positioning Service And The Convergence Between Electronic Warfare And Cyber Attack

The digital infrastructure for maritime and air navigation security contributes to diffuse a global common : the Global Positioning Service (GPS) through enhanced connectivity. This global common is dual, both essential to military forces and civilian activities, especially transportation. As a consequence, it is a “perfect target” for hybrid warfare. Moreover, the securization of this infrastructure rests either on an hegemon which provides security for all users or the diffusion of multiple positioning systems from great powers which are interoperable. The issue would be an increase of the cost of the positioning service and the nature of the security regime. Indeed, the securization process requires either trust among a set of countries to diffuse only one digital infrastructure with financial gain for all or an anarchical security regime between countries and a set of costly inter-operable systems. In a unipolar world, the security regime would be close to a stable hub & spoke alliance with a keystone country as the main security provider. On the contrary, in a multipolar world each great power provides a “global positioning service” as a lever to balance power politics of others through shifting alliances. It is a classical balance of power phenomena. Actually, GPS are provided by multinational companies but in last resort it is controlled by the defence and security state apparatus. The US GPS provide positioning information with a three meters precision but it may be decreased on any area by a simple decision from the Pentagon. It is the main driver for the development of the Chinese GPS “Beidou” through its ecosystem of more than 120 companies closely linked to the party state. The Beidou system is fully operational at a global level since 2020. We are analyzing the current features of the rising GPS rivalry between these two great powers in order to illustrate the security dilemma in the technological field…