China successfully tests ‘phantom space strike’ weapon which can overwhelm a missile defence system

China has successfully tested a ‘phantom space strike’ – a new tactic to overwhelm and sabotage missile defences by emitting fake target signals from space.

Military engineers announced earlier this month they had completed a computer simulation and achieved positive results.

The tactic is designed to overwhelm the enemy on the basis that there is only so much a missile defence system would be able to cope with.

This can lead to exhaustion of the enemy’s weapon supplies, making it easier to destroy it. 

In the simulation, a ballistic missile was launched against an enemy which had a missile defence system. 

After surpassing the atmosphere, the missile released three spacecrafts containing radio interference equipment which picked up enemy radar network signals and sent back dummy signals, successfully triggering enemy forces to launch an interceptor.

‘Generating phantom tracks in space is extremely difficult,’ the team wrote, according to South China Morning Post.

‘We solved one of the major challenges … with a clever design.’

The team was led by Zhao Yanli, a senior engineer in the People’s Liberation Army Unit 63891 – a military agency based in the central Chinese province of Henan that develops new technologies.

Dummy attacks are often used in combat to exhaust the enemy’s supplies. 

The team said this tactic was not previously feasible in space. Now the positive results of the simulation have given them hope as they move the project onto the next stage to battle any engineering challenges.

Researchers exploited a weak spot in radar stations where signals can become fuzzy and crossed over. 

The spacecrafts’ direction, speed and formation would be decided before the launch and would be based on the information obtained about the enemy’s radar station.

The tactic is designed to overwhelm the enemy as there is only so much a missile defence system would be able to cope with. Pictured: File image

After release from the missile, the distance between the three spacecrafts would increase over time and alter the accuracy of the dummy signals.

The number of spacecrafts released by the missile could increase, according to the researchers who said more devices could lead to more phantom signals to confuse the enemy.

The phantom force study has sparked fears however that such technology could trigger an aggressive nuclear response. 

China has significantly less nuclear weapons than the US and Russia and its government has significantly invested into developing alternative technologies such as methods of attacking missile defence systems.