By Micah McCartney

Copyright newsweek

A Chinese research team claims it has developed a working prototype of a data processing system that could allow the country to detect and respond to airborne threats anywhere in the world—and says it has already been deployed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Though still in its early stages, the system is said to leverage breakthroughs in big data to integrate multi-domain sensor information. If successful, it would become the first known air defense system with global reach—well before Trump’s planned “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative gets off the ground.

Why It Matters

The planned Golden Dome initiative is a $175 billion project announced by Trump in May to strengthen U.S. missile defenses. But no architecture for the system has been unveiled, and the Congressional Budget Office has warned the eventual cost could be nearly three times higher.

The Chinese claim comes amid mounting concerns in Washington over the capabilities of its near-peer military rivals, most notably China. Beijing fields one of the world’s largest missile fleets and has taken the lead over Washington in hypersonic missile technology—maneuverable weapons that travel more than five times the speed of sound. A functioning global defense system could place U.S. forces at a disadvantage just as tensions mount over flashpoints in the Asia Pacific, such as Beijing-claimed Taiwan.

Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon and China’s Ministry of National Defense by email seeking comment.

What To Know

The Chinese project is led by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology, China’s top research and development center for defense electronics. The team described its work in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Modern Radar, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

President Donald Trump listens as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 20, 2025, the day the Golden Dome project was launched.

The system, referred to as a “distributed early warning detection big data platform,” has reportedly already been tested and deployed by the PLA. Research team leader and software engineer Li Xudong said the system combines data from sensors located in the air, space, ground and sea, allowing it to track as many as 1,000 incoming missiles simultaneously.

The paper said the platform achieves “unified aggregation, governance and shared application of data at the global early warning situational awareness level” by integrating target tracking, launch alerts, threat warnings, and identification results from top-level sensor nodes.

If operational, the platform would likely be integrated with China’s interceptor missiles. Several of these systems were showcased during last month’s military parade marking the 80th anniversary of World War II.

What People Are Saying

The research team wrote in its paper, per SCMP: ““By uniformly collecting and integrating data products from top-level nodes … it has realized unified aggregation, governance and shared application of data at the global early warning situational awareness level.”

Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the China’s Ministry of National Defense, warned during a May 29 press briefing that the Golden Dome would “open a Pandora’s box.” “This proves again that no country has done more than the U.S. in militarizing space and making it a battlefield,” he said.

Trump said while announcing the “Golden Dome” project on May 20: “We have officially selected an architecture for this state-of-the-art system that will deploy next-generation technologies across land, sea, and space including space-based sensors and interceptors.”

What’s Next

It remains unclear to what extent the Chinese prototype is deployed or when the project is slated to reach maturity. The PLA is expected to continue its modernization push in line with President Xi Jinping’s goal of achieving a “world-class” military by mid-century.

Trump has pledged the Golden Dome would be “fully operational” by the time he leaves office in January 2029.