# PLA Strategic Support Force The PLA Strategic Support Force (SSF) was the People's Liberation Army's unified command for space, cyber, electronic warfare, and information operations, established in December 2015 as part of Xi Jinping's sweeping military reorganization. In April 2024, the SSF was dissolved and its functions redistributed into three new branches: the Information Support Force (information and network operations), the Aerospace Force (space), and the Cyberspace Force (offensive and defensive cyber). The reorganization reflected both the growing importance of these domains — China's military doctrine treats information dominance as the prerequisite for conventional military success — and a corruption purge that swept through SSF leadership in 2023–2024. Regardless of organizational structure, the PLA's cyber and electronic warfare capabilities represent the military track of Chinese intelligence operations, complementing the [[MSS]]'s civilian espionage. ## Capabilities The PLA's cyber units conduct espionage against foreign military networks, intellectual property theft from defense contractors (the F-35 design theft attributed to PLA hackers resulted in Chinese aircraft designs that closely mirror Lockheed Martin's), and development of capabilities to disrupt adversary military command-and-control in a conflict scenario. The electronic warfare component develops and deploys systems to jam communications, GPS, and radar — capabilities directly relevant to a potential Taiwan Strait conflict. The space component operates China's military satellite constellation for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and navigation — and has demonstrated anti-satellite weapon capability (the 2007 ASAT test that created a debris field still tracked by space agencies worldwide). ## KB relevance The PLA's information warfare capabilities are a driving justification for the [[Chip Export Controls]] the vault tracks — restricting China's access to advanced semiconductors is ultimately about constraining the PLA's ability to develop AI-powered military systems. The [[Dual-Use AI]] debate centers on preventing frontier AI capabilities from reaching organizations like the PLA's cyber units. ## See Also - [[MSS]] — China's civilian intelligence agency - [[US Cyber Command]] — US military cyber equivalent - [[GRU]] — Russia's military intelligence (comparable role) - [[Chip Export Controls]] — technology restrictions targeting China - [[Dual-Use AI]] — the framework for military AI capability - [[Global Intelligence Hub]] — full agency index