Beidou's Chinese satellite strategy fundamentally changes the way war is waged via Iran with the United States.
- Larry C. Johnson 18 July 2026.uncutnews-ch/chinas-beidou-satellitesystem-veraendert-den-krieg-des-iran-gegen-die-usa-grundlegend
Larry C. Johnson
Thank you to Kevin Wamsley from Inside China Business . His fresh movie on the importance of the Chinese satellite navigation strategy Beidou provides key information on the current successes of Iranian rocket attacks on targets in the US and Israel. It's a breakthrough.
Here's the video:
Let's sum up the content.
During the 12-day war in June 2025, Iranian rockets and drones encountered considerable difficulties in clashing with advanced electronic combat systems of Israel and the United States. Repeated interference and falsification of GPS signals disrupted their guidance systems and severely hampered their effectiveness during intense conflict.
However, in early 2026 the situation on the battlefield changed substantially. Iranian precision strikes abruptly penetrated modern air defence systems and with amazing accuracy hit crucial targets throughout the Persian Gulf. Intelligence analysts attributed this improvement to 1 key factor: Iran abandoned the GPS strategy and switched to the Chinese satellite navigation strategy Beidou .
The irony of destiny is that it was the United States, unconsciously, that gave China an impulse to make Beidou.
History begins in 1993. During this time a Chinese container ship Yinhe He was sailing to Iran. The CIA has charged the ship with transporting chemicals to arms production. Under US pressure, ports in the mediate East refused to enter the ship, leaving it in the Indian Ocean. The U.S. not only put force on its allies, but allegedly cut off the ship's access to the GPS system, forcing him to stay on anchor for weeks. Only after the inspection in Saudi Arabia was the ship completely cleared of charges. However, China received neither apology nor compensation.
This humiliation – the failure of navigation in the mediate of the ocean due to dependence on a foreign-controlled strategy – became a key lesson for Beijing. This accelerated the improvement of its own satellite navigation system: Beidou (BDS) .
- BDS-1 (2000) initially offered regional coverage.
- BDS-2 He has importantly expanded his capabilities.
- Thanks to BDS-3 (completed around 2020) Beidou has become a global strategy covering dozens of satellites, much more ground stations—especially in the global South—and higher accuracy than GPS in many regions.
Currently Beidou surpasses GPS in terms of scope and precision around 165 countries . It offers a solid alternate which the Western countries cannot unilaterally disrupt or manipulate.
After the conflict in 2025 revealed the weaknesses of GPS-based weapons systems, Iran took decisive action. In late 2025 and early 2026 Tehran incorporated Beidou To his rocket arsenal and drones. The March 2026 reports already indicated crucial improvements: Iranian precision weapons were able to overcome electronic countermeasures that had only proved effective a fewer months earlier.
The most crucial advantages of Beidou for Iran are:
- High opposition to jamming and spoofing GPS thanks to modern technology of frequency jumping and counter interference.
- Increased accuracy with a probability of a ellipse mistake of little than 5 metres in key operational areas, allowing more precise attacks utilizing less ammunition.
- Real-time control utilizing a safe message strategy that allows you to correct the course during flight, even over long distances.
This technological modernisation has importantly contributed to Iran's ability to overcome US defence systems in the Gulf States and to attack key targets much more effectively. At the same time, however, the assurance in the US safety guarantees in the Gulf region has been greatly weakened.
The U.S. decision to usage GPS as a geopolitical tool, taken already in 1993, so proved to be a spectacular blow. An effort to humiliate China has yet started a technological leap which presently gives China and their allies a strategical advantage over the United States.
