Command Confrontation: Considering China’s Evolving Command Capabilities and Implications for NATO

This new HCSS guest paper by Elsa B. Kania assesses China’s evolving command capabilities and the implications for NATO. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues pursuing ambitions to become a world-class military, the impacts of which will be global.

NATO’s future force design and defence planning should be informed by assessments of the trajectory of China’s military power and potential threats that PLA capabilities could present, including to NATO C4ISR systems. For decades Chinese military leaders have dedicated considerable resources and consistent investments to developing command information systems that are comparable to C4ISR, information operations capabilities such as cyber and electronic warfare to target adversary C4ISR.

Assessing and anticipating the PLA’s progression and persistent challenges remains an enduring undertaking. Based on China’s approach and informed by previous reports in this series, NATO should:

• Continue investing in improving the resilience of NATO C4ISR, especially against advanced adversary electronic warfare and cyberspace offensive capabilities, and evaluate potential vulnerabilities of current systems.
• Improve integration of commercial technologies, and expand partnerships with leading enterprises to promote integration of AI.
• Develop the data resources, sharing protocols, and requisite infrastructure to facilitate adoption of emerging technologies.
• Accelerate experimentation with AI-enabled systems to enhance ISR and decision support.
• Ensure best practices for safety, validation, and assurance of new AI systems remain a priority and focus of efforts.
• Ensure NATO command structures and systems are postured appropriately for rapid response and potential transitions to crisis or conflict.

Elsa B. Kania is Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security

This HCSS paper is part of a series of guest contributions related to the “NATO’s digital capabilities” project, established in the run up to the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague. The research was made possible through a financial contribution from Microsoft to the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS).