AI in the defence industry — Are we prepared?

The march of technology in defence looks unstoppable. Lockheed Martin, IBM, L3Harris Technologies, Raytheon and DSTL (in the UK) are busy developing AI solutions for military use. As well as addressing ethical concerns, equipping defence personnel with the right digital skills is becoming a priority.

The largest militaries in the world are now focusing more on AI and Machine Learning (ML) than anything else. In 2020, the UK announced a massive boost in defence spend — 16.5 billion over four years — described by Prime Minister, Boris Johnson as a “once-in-a-generation modernisation of the UK’s armed forces.”

This modernisation will focus on cutting-edge technologies to revolutionise warfare with a leading role for AI and sensor-laden hardware.

In the US, the AI military market is also projected to grow significantly. The US Department of Defense (DoD) spent 7.4 billion on AI, Big Data and the Cloud in 2017, a figure that’s predicted to reach 19 billion by 2025.

AI and Machine Learning are changing the face of the defence industry

Machine Learning is becoming critical to modern warfare systems and is deployed in just about every military application. It’s behind a vast number of current and potential applications, including support for military decision-making, the creation of autonomous platforms and weapons, logistics, policing and security, and for streamlining back-office operations.

Examples of AI in defence

Machine Learning is set to prove its worth in major military applications, including:

• Warfare platforms: AI is being embedded into weapons and systems across the army, navy, airforce and even in space. The aim is to develop effective warfare systems that are less reliant on human input and require less maintenance. AI is also predicted to power autonomous vehicles and (controversially) high-speed weapons so they can carry out collaborative attacks.
• Cybersecurity: AI-equipped systems can work autonomously to protect networks, computers and programs and prevent unauthorised access. They can also record patterns of attacks and develop countermeasures.
• Logistics and transportation: Military transportation equipped with AI can lower costs and reduce the need for manual management. AI can detect anomalies and predict component failures.
• Target recognition: AI improves the ability of systems to identify the positions of targets and make forecasts about enemy behaviour, the weather, and environmental factors.
• Battlefield healthcare: AI can be integrated with Robotic Surgical Systems (RSS) and Robotic Ground Platforms (RGPs) to deliver remote surgical support and evacuations.

In addition, IBM partnered with the US Veterans Administration to develop an Electronic Medical Record Analyser (EMR) to process medical records and rank critical health problems.

• Combat Simulation and Training: Computerised models can help soldiers get acquainted with combat systems. The US Navy and Army have developed sensor simulation programs with the help of companies like Leidos, SAIC, AECOM and Orbital ATK.
• Threat monitoring and situational awareness: Unmanned systems, in particular drones (UAVs), can carry out missions remotely and assist with threat monitoring. Either remote-controlled or autonomous, they can patrol borders, carry out missions and transmit information to teams on the ground.

Mass adoption of AI in military technology is both an incredible, and incredibly frightening, prospect. So far, attempts to code law and ethics into the potential of ‘killer bots’ have met with resistance.

The future of AI in defence

The winners in the race to adopt AI will have considerable global leverage. As the Prime Minister stated in his vision for the UK in The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development an Foreign Policy (2021), he aims for the UK to remain “ a leading edge in critical areas such as Artificial Intelligence."

Defence modernisation requires new skills

AI will impact back office processes, in everything from food preparation and transportation to administrative roles. This increased automation means defence personnel will need to be re-skilled into new areas.

In order to keep up with the pace of modernisation, all military services will need to transform their workforces rapidly. Retraining people as “software soldiers”, skilled in data science and cloud computing architecture could take years, so it’s essential that senior leaders invest now.

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