Tech is our military’s great strength, but China could make it our Achilles’ heel

The article outlines a hypothetical scenario in which a Chinese cyberattack disables critical U.S. technological infrastructure, illustrating vulnerabilities in systems that underpin both military capability and civilian life. It uses a Pasadena blackout as a narrative device to demonstrate how interconnected modern society has become—and how dependent American defense is on the same digital networks that power communications, power grids, and internet connectivity. The piece argues that while technological superiority has long been a cornerstone of U.S. military advantage, that same reliance on advanced tech creates a significant national security risk if an adversary like China can successfully target the infrastructure America depends on. The scenario highlights the cascading failures that could result from coordinated attacks on interconnected systems rather than isolated incidents. The broader concern is that the U.S. military and civilian sectors share overlapping technological vulnerabilities that an adversary could exploit simultaneously.