China’s test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile on July 6 took many by surprise. But amid the confusion about what the test signified, an interesting conversation was occurring. Was the missile a JL-2 or a JL-3? That open-source analysts were asking this question is a testament to just how much technical information about the People’s Liberation Army is now available to researchers.

The Cold War is often invoked as a comparison to U.S.-China relations today, but the massive Soviet military machine had to be monitored through a much darker and blurrier lens than China’s buildup. The old ways of intelligence collection have not been entirely superseded; astonishingly, modern versions of the U-2 spy planes that undertook perilous reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union still serve with the U.S. Air Force. But traditional tools of intelligence collection on foreign military forces are now being heavily supplemented by sources that are freely available on the internet.

China’s test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile on July 6 took many by surprise. But amid the confusion about what the test signified, an interesting conversation was occurring. Was the missile a JL-2 or a JL-3? That open-source analysts were asking this question is a testament to just how much technical information about the People’s Liberation Army is now available to researchers.

The Cold War is often invoked as a comparison to U.S.-China relations today, but the massive Soviet military machine had to be monitored through a much darker and blurrier lens than China’s buildup. The old ways of intelligence collection have not been entirely superseded; astonishingly, modern versions of the U-2 spy planes that undertook perilous reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union still serve with the U.S. Air Force. But traditional tools of intelligence collection on foreign military forces are now being heavily supplemented by sources that are freely available on the internet.

Intelligence collection and analysis were once the exclusive purview of governments and research institutions. But the information revolution has produced a flourishing of open-source intelligence and a global community of military analysts. Their sleuthing is transforming our understanding of the biggest military modernization of any nation since World War II.

Beijing naturally likes to show off its military prowess, unveiling new technologies with fanfare. Last year’s military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, for instance, was a gold mine for analysts.

Sometimes these official releases reveal more than intended. Videos put out by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are parsed for minute details. Even a glimpse of background can be revealing, allowing for quick geolocation of the footage, which can hint at where new military equipment is based.

Despite the........

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