Tech is our military’s great strength, but China could make it our Achilles’ heel

Imagine waking up in Pasadena, California to the sound of complete silence. Your AI wake-up alarm of choice is silent. Your iPhone is in SOS mode, but you still can’t make calls on your home network because the internet is dead.

You don’t panic immediately, but then you realize the electricity is off and your water supply is down to your reservoir.

Even though you don’t know it yet–– high above in the coldness of outer space –– the civilian communication satellites that keep you connected have all gone dark, alongside the military satellites intended to protect us.

Meanwhile, 6,799 miles away in Taipei, Taiwan, the People’s Army of China is conducting a massive invasion. You have no idea.

Science fiction? No. It’s a doomsday scenario that is growing more realistic day-by-day. We have already witnessed previews of it in the Middle East.

Israel — first by using explosive pagers to decapitate senior Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon in September 2024, and then again using CCTV security cameras in Tehran to target and kill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other regime figures — has demonstrated just how effective asymmetrical hybrid warfare can be in the opening phases of a war.

Consider too just how tech-dependent our military forces have become since the end of the Cold War. Logistics, smart weapons and bombs, guided munitions and geo-positioning, all increasingly supplemented by AI, now form the core of our nation’s military might.

Yet alarmingly, they also represent our Achilles’ heel. While it is not as simple as one “kill switch,” imagine dozens of potential........

© The Hill