China has established a military branch to protect and enhance information dissemination while also collecting and assessing potential adversaries’ intelligence. The Information Support Force (ISF) is China’s attempt to integrate and operationalize big data into its warfighting strategy.
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping created the ISF along with the Aerospace and Cyberspace forces to replace the Strategic Support Force in a reconfiguration of China’s military service structure in April 2024. Xi said the ISF would play a key role in the construction and use of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) information systems. He urged the force’s personnel to integrate deeply into joint, all-domain operations and to provide precise, effective support.
The ISF’s main mission is to collect, process and protect information. It uses satellites, drones and other technologies to discreetly gather and analyze military intelligence.
But the ISF isn’t solely concerned with information warfare. Its major mission is ensuring the PLA never turns against the CCP, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute reported in November 2024. Upon establishing the ISF, Xi called on “the service to ‘adhere to information dominance,’ ‘strengthen information protection,’ ‘consolidate the foundation of the troops’ and ‘ensure that the troops are absolutely loyal,’” according to the think tank.
Recent reports on ISF activities indicate that it functions as a human and technical joint, all-domain command and control (C2), facilitating the establishment of a common operational approach designed to attain information dominance. Key objectives include collaborating with front-line air, ground and naval units to provide real-time information and coordinate network support. For instance, during a recent exercise, the ISF used a unified information platform to supply naval vessels with timely target data to enhance efficiency.
The ISF provides network infrastructure and moves data across it. The branch also is responsible for the physical maintenance and protection of information. A state-run website in August 2025 described ISF personnel deploying to monitor and maintain a critical fiber network while traversing rugged, remote terrain. The ISF is developing drones to locate and repair damaged fiber-optic cables to decrease response times and difficulties in accessing the underground infrastructure.
In its first public combat-oriented exercise, the ISF demonstrated its readiness to defend against cyberattacks. The Great Wall 2025 drill, directed by Xi, aimed to showcase the CCP’s efforts to achieve digital supremacy, China’s state-controlled CCTV News reported in August. When a mock adversary tried to implant multilayered disguised malware through a micro-USB drive, the defense system issued an alert, triggering a virtual firewall.
In the joint C2 segment, the ISF built a full-domain information network for air, land, sea and space combat units.
The ISF has intensified training with other branches of the armed forces, demonstrating an integrated combat system, and enhanced mobile and decentralized deployment capabilities, according to a PLA document.
The PLA monitors United States military developments, the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analyses reported. The ISF’s establishment may reflect the PLA’s desire to compete with its perceived adversaries, according to the think tank.
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