According to online rumors, China’s Beidou Navigation System played a significant role in Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Israel. Iran employed military-grade positioning accuracy, rendering Israel’s domestic GPS shutdown ineffective, leaving them only able to watch as intercepted Iranian missiles hit their targets!
Reportedly, Iran and Pakistan could utilize the military-grade PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) of the CNSA Beidou Navigation System. However, assuming Iran received its comprehensive/active support, launching suicide-style “drone attacks” on Israeli sovereignty, which would be irresponsible/baseless and could damage CNSA/CASC’s reputation.
The above text is a claim circulating on foreign social media. So, the question arises: Did the Beidou positioning system indeed play a crucial role in the Iran-Israel conflict?
Although I would like it to be true, after factual analysis, it’s highly unlikely!
Firstly, suicide drones of this level can adequately function with civilian-grade positioning. After all, they are not utilized as precision-guided weapons. Suicide drones themselves are not of a standard military-grade but civilian-grade, with control systems lacking sensitivity and precision. Thus, using military-grade positioning for them is essentially meaningless.
Secondly, the global positioning system is not limited to China’s Beidou; besides GPS, there’s Russia’s GLONASS and Europe’s Galileo. Considering the normal train of thought, given the deep cooperation between Russia and Iran in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Iran utilizing military-grade GLONASS would pose no problem at all. Hence, Iran’s first choice wouldn’t likely be the Beidou system.
Thirdly, Iran’s retaliatory strike on Israeli territory is more of a symbolic action, not aimed at causing significant damage to Israel proper. That’s why Iran chose a military base on the outskirts of the Negev Desert. It’s sparsely populated, making it difficult to cause significant damage even if targeted precisely. More importantly, Iran also brushed the edge by stating that this area is illegally occupied by Israel, effectively denying it as Israeli territory.
So, do you understand now? Iran doesn’t want to engage in war with Israel but still feels the need to vent some emotions, letting domestic pressure release like a volcanic eruption. They chose a target like this to let the U.S. understand. Hence, we see Biden’s request for Israel not to retaliate in the news. Everyone is playing their part—Israel gains economically, Iran strikes Israeli territory, and the U.S. successfully mediates—all three parties are winners!