Series Report: Data Empowers Combat Effectiveness Construction | Data Orders: Re-formulating for Combat Effectiveness Construction
Source: China Military Online - PLA Daily Author: Sun Xingwei, Cheng Xue Editor: Zhao Ziqing Release: 2026-07-13 06:14:56
Editor's Note President Xi pointed out at the National Science and Technology Award Conference, the Two Academicians Conference, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology that the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is profoundly changing human production and lifestyle as well as the world development pattern, and that scientific and technological strength and innovation capability are increasingly becoming the core competitiveness of a country. In recent years, with the rapid development of science and technology, the form of warfare is accelerating toward informatization and intelligent evolution. Data, as a new type of strategic resource, is profoundly changing and reshaping the mode of combat effectiveness generation. In a sense, future warfare is about fighting with data, and data advantage is the winning advantage. Currently, the application of data is accelerating its integration into all fields and aspects of our military's construction, becoming a new growth point for combat effectiveness. Starting today, the PLA Daily is launching a series report on "Data Empowers Combat Effectiveness Construction" to reflect the experience and practices of various units in acquiring, analyzing, and using data. Please stay tuned.
From the Change in Unit Needs to the Effect of Data Empowerment —
Data Orders: Re-formulating for Combat Effectiveness Construction
■ PLA Daily Reporter Sun Xingwei
(Caption: Officers and soldiers collect data in the field. Photo by Zhang Xiaoshui)
In just one morning, Engineer Zhao from a data support team of a certain Information Support Force unit received more than ten phone calls.
On the other end of the line, voices were asking Engineer Zhao for help: next month's training requires advance preparation of relevant data, bridge data still needs supplementary load correction values, and the deadline for the 3D map needs to be moved up...
"All are 'placing orders'!" After putting down the phone, Engineer Zhao told reporters that in recent years, with the deepening implementation of the strategy of strengthening the military through science and technology, their team's phone has become a true "data order hotline."
Recalling more than ten years ago, the office phone of Engineer Zhao's team was often as quiet as a decoration. At that time, their main task was to update traditional maps. They often sighed while looking at thick atlases: "It's so inconvenient to carry such a large thick book into battle. When can we put the map into a tablet computer..."
However, when electronic maps replaced the thick books, the joy of the officers and soldiers was soon replaced by new challenges—the maps on the screen updated slowly and were still "dead."
Engineer Xu from the team vividly remembered an awkward situation encountered during a joint exercise: due to a network failure, the valuable data collected by drones could not be transmitted in real-time and could only be imported into the computer by pulling the card after returning. By the time the data "traveled over mountains and rivers" to the command post, the opportunity had already been missed.
"It was like wanting to cross a river but there was no bridge, so you had to take a detour over the mountains." Speaking of this, Engineer Xu's tone carried a lot of regret.
In recent years, with the increasingly rich means of acquiring and using data in this unit, the bridge of interconnected data has finally been completed, and the method and speed of information transmission have undergone a qualitative change. Today, while drones are in flight, they can transmit acquired information back to the command post in real-time.
"Previously, data transmission was like riding a long-distance bus, not only slow but often requiring transfers; now, data takes the high-speed rail, with exponentially faster transmission speed and direct arrival." Speaking of the change, Engineer Xu grinned, "This bridge of interconnected data is worth building!"
War is fought in a system, soldiers are trained in a system, and data also flows in a system. After the data bridge was unblocked, the demands from units surged like a tide.
The first to keenly sense the trend and embrace change was a certain engineer unit. In the past, when executing tasks, they had to send advance teams to repeatedly survey the terrain. Now, the commander can select a site, verify parameters, and plan channels with a single tap on the screen.
As more and more people used the data bridge, some unit commanders worried: "What if data gets lost during transmission?" Engineer Zhao confidently told the other party: "Rest assured, the entire transmission is encrypted, more secure than a safe."
In recent years, data demands from units have become increasingly intensive. Engineer Chen sensed a clear change: "In the past, there were hardly any 'orders' in a year. Now I deeply understand what it means to have the phone 'blown up.'"
While the "order volume" surged, the data needs of units also constantly changed—an Air Force staff officer asked to mark the weakest part of a building on the map, an army aviation unit inquired about detailed information such as the height of trees in the forest... A request from a certain unit's duty office was even more unexpected: "It's too troublesome to switch between several screens during duty. Can we merge information on troop deployment, weather conditions, and water level warnings onto one large screen?"
The emergence of such "customized orders" is a vivid portrayal of the deepening of actual combat training and combat readiness. Faced with the surge in quantity and qualitative change in data demands from units, this data support team, in collaboration with multiple departments, often works overtime to tackle difficulties.
When the "vulnerability index" of the target building was clearly presented in 3D, the Air Force staff officer's eyes lit up: "With data support, our plan can be more solid, ensuring more precise and effective strikes!"
As the staff officer said, with data empowerment, the efficiency of unit operations has significantly improved. During last year's flood relief, Engineer Chen witnessed the following scene:
On the command hall screen, images transmitted by drones clearly showed real-time information of the surging flood, trapped villages, and breach sections. "Search eastward, there are submerged houses there" "Mark the downstream people who haven't been evacuated"... The commander stared at the screen and issued consecutive dispatch commands, seeing more comprehensively and clearly than the rescue personnel on site. The flight data from dozens of drone sorties provided solid decision-making support for personnel evacuation and breach sealing.
During the interview, the team engineers told reporters a case: during an exercise, officers and soldiers analyzed data and found that a "lawn" on the battlefield had undergone morphological changes continuously over several hours. "This is not natural change, but clearly man-made dynamic terrain change!" Based on this judgment, the commander ordered the unit to act swiftly, and the forward detachment struck like thunder, annihilating the "enemy."
"The list of 'data orders' is growing longer, fully indicating that units are increasingly valuing the application of data." The unit leader said that as the degree of informatization and intelligence in warfare increases, data has become a new type of "ammunition" on the battlefield. To some extent, the probability of winning future warfare depends on these continuously accumulating "data orders."
After the interview, it was late at night. Looking back at the brightly lit office of the data support team, the reporter seemed to see piles of "data orders" growing higher and higher. These data demands and applications are re-formulating for combat effectiveness construction.
Commentary
One More Data Advantage, One More Chance of Victory on the Battlefield
■ Cheng Xue
From "like a decoration" to "in high demand," the change in the busyness of the office phone of a data support team in a certain Information Support Force unit is, to some extent, a vivid footnote to the transformation of our military's combat effectiveness generation model.
With the rapid development of science and technology and the deepening evolution of military transformation, data has become a key variable affecting the outcome of battles. Once the obstacles to data flow are removed, information advantages can be efficiently and quickly transformed into decision-making confidence and operational advantages.
One more data advantage, one more chance of victory on the battlefield. The fruits of victory in future warfare belong to the military that can efficiently acquire, process, and use data. Facing the surging wave of informationized and intelligent warfare, we must make greater efforts to master data resources and accumulate data advantages, continuously solidifying the foundation for winning future battles.
