LONDON, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - Chinese military hackers have drawn up a plan to disable the United States' battle carrier fleet through a cyber attack, British newspaper The Times said Saturday, citing a Pentagon report.

The blueprint is part of a plan by Beijing to establish 'electronic dominance' over its global rivals by 2050, particularly the United States, Britain, Russia and South Korea, said the daily.

The newspaper said two hackers working for China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) came up with the plan.

The Pentagon report says China's military regards offensive computer operations as 'critical to seize the initiative' in the early stages of a war, The Times said.

"China's ambitions extend to crippling an enemy's financial, military and communications capabilities early in a conflict," said the newspaper.

According to The Times, Larry M. Wortzel, author of the US Army War College report, said: "The thing that should give us pause is that in many Chinese military manuals they identify the US as the country they are most likely to go to war with. They are moving very rapidly to master this new form of warfare."

The PLA hackers produced a "virtual guidebook for electronic warfare and jamming" after studying NATO and US manuals on military tactics, the report said.

The Times said the Pentagon logged more than 79,000 attempted intrusions in 2005, of which about 1,300 succeeded.

China on Thursday denied that its military had hacked into the the websites of any foreign government, after press reports said Britain was the latest nation to fall victim to Chinese cyber attacks.