The Chinese military’s “Project Nantianmen” is far from reality—but it shows that Beijing is thinking about the right questions for the future of space warfare.
Things are getting wild in the wake of the Trump administration’s incredible tactical raid in Caracas, Venezuela—which resulted in the capture of the Venezuelan president and his wife in mere minutes.
The skill and precise execution involved, along with the negative implications for Venezuela’s global partners, has prompted a wave of recrimination and a degree of hand-wringing from America’s enemies, notably China, about their own military capabilities.
The “Nantianmen Project”: Beijing’s Big Sci-Fi Reveal
Enter the so-called “Nantianmen Project,” less a realistic military program and more of a futuristic fantasy. That’s not to say that some—or maybe all—of the platforms and weapons that are part of the project are a total fantasy. It’s to say that they are still far-off concepts.
The aspirational nature of this program was cited by the South China Morning Post when interviewing People’s Liberation Army Air Force Command College analyst Wang Mingzhi. According to Wang, “These frontier technologies [from the Nantianmen Project] reflect both expectations for future aerospace and space superiority, and the directions being pursued to safeguard national security.”
It is rarely a good idea to underestimate the Chinese, who have made ingenious technological advancements in the last quarter-century. But the Nantianmen Project, while real, is clearly puffery—and will be for the foreseeable future, simply because those “frontier technologies” are such important elements of the project.
“Nantianmen” Is Aspirational Power, Not Operational Power
The South China Morning Post reports that some of the technologies included in the Nantianmen Project are hypersonic vehicles, dual-mode air-and-space propulsion, metamaterial stealth, adaptive airframe configurations, drone swarm coordination, artificial intelligence-enable decision making, directed-energy weapons (DEWs), and space-to-atmosphere operational capabilities.
To be clear, many of these technologies are in some phase of development by the Chinese military. But, like the Americans, the Chinese have not made any of these systems work as advertised—at least not yet. So the Americans should not lose their heads over this. There’s still some time to compete. Further, there’s plenty of distance still for the Chinese designers to travel before they can truly announce they have anything viable from this mostly aspirational project.
The sudden explosion of buzz around this project is undoubtedly because of the recent spate of Trump administration military victories, from the B-2 Spirit bombings of suspected nuclear weapons sites in Iran to the aforementioned Venezuela tactical raid. Of course, in both instances, they were limited and temporary military operations with very specific, attainable goals.
China has plenty of capabilities that, if they ever decided to deploy against the Americans, would give the US military a bloody nose unlike anything experienced probably since World War II. Nevertheless, Beijing is clearly feeling insecure about the fact that the Americans have consistently demonstrated military capabilities that are closer to Star Wars than Mad Max. China’s leaders want to remind the world that they, too, are developing science fiction-like capabilities. It’s all part of the counterprogramming.
One of the most science fiction (aspirational) aspects of the Nantianmen Project is what could only be described as an aircraft carrier in space. Known as Luanniao, named after a mythical Chinese bird, the Helicarrier is essentially meant to be a real-world version of the flying aircraft carrier found in the Avengers movies. China supposedly plans for Luanniao to carry 88 unmanned space fighters called Xuannü.
Of course, this is so far beyond reality that it might as well be in the next Marvel comic book film. But, again, it shows where the Chinese strategic thinkers are: in space. Everything about the Nantianmen Project is space-oriented. It is about next-generation aerospace technologies and dominated the strategic high ground of space with those next-generation aerospace technologies.
China Doesn’t Have the Hardware Yet—but It Has the Right Vision
China is letting the world know what its plan is—complete dominance of the strategic high ground, whether it be with aspirational technologies like the Luanniao or more realistic platforms, in order to ensure total dominance over the Earth below. If Washington wants to worry, they should care less about the particulars or practicality of the Nantianmen Project and instead focus more on the thinking that is going behind that project.
Lastly, this should be a reminder that, while China is America’s greatest strategic competitor today, it is not invincible. Beijing’s response to very real Trump military victories in the last eight months has been to saturate social media and global news with what amounts to science fiction. The impetus to do that comes from a place of weakness, not strength. Americans should keep that in mind.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is a senior national security editor at The National Interest. Recently, Weichert became the host of The National Security Hour on America Outloud News and iHeartRadio, where he discusses national security policy every Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. Weichert hosts a companion book talk series on Rumble entitled “National Security Talk.” He is also a contributor at Popular Mechanics and has consulted regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, and the Asia Times. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / buradaki.
