AI-driven human-machine teams will revolutionize warfare.

Are Commercial Software Developers Disrupting the ‍Defense Industry?

By David Lague

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Some technology experts believe innovative commercial software developers now entering the arms market are challenging the dominance⁤ of the traditional defense ​industry,​ which‍ produces big-ticket ⁤weapons, sometimes at ​glacial ⁣speed.

It is too early to say if big, human-crewed​ weapons like submarines or reconnaissance helicopters will​ go ​the way of‌ the‍ battleship, which ⁣was rendered obsolete with ⁤the ⁢rise of air power.‍ But ​aerial, land and ⁤underwater robots, teamed with humans, are poised to⁢ play a major role in warfare.

Evidence of such change is already emerging from the war in ​Ukraine. There, even⁣ rudimentary teams ⁢of humans and machines operating without significant artificial-intelligence powered ​autonomy are reshaping the‌ battlefield. Simple,​ remotely piloted drones have‌ greatly improved the lethality of artillery, rockets and missiles in Ukraine, according to ‌military ‍analysts who study the ‌conflict.

Kathleen Hicks,‌ the U.S. deputy secretary of defense, said in an Aug. 28 speech at a conference on military technology in Washington that⁤ traditional military capabilities‌ “remain essential.” But she noted that the Ukraine conflict has shown that emerging technology developed ⁣by ‍commercial and non-traditional companies could be⁣ “decisive in defending against modern military aggression.”

A ​Reuters ⁤special report published​ today explores how ⁤automation powered ‍by artificial intelligence is⁤ poised ‍to revolutionize weapons, warfare ⁣and military⁣ power.

Both Russian ‍and Ukrainian forces are integrating ‍traditional ‌weapons with AI, satellite​ imaging and communications, as ‌well ‍as smart and loitering munitions, according to a May report⁢ from ⁣the Special​ Competitive Studies Project, ‍a non-partisan ‍U.S. panel⁣ of experts. The battlefield is now a⁣ patchwork ‌of deep trenches and bunkers where troops have ‌been “forced to go ​underground or ‍huddle in cellars ​to survive,” the report said.

Some military strategists have noted that in this conflict, attack ⁤and ​transport helicopters have become so vulnerable that they have been ‍almost forced ‍from the skies, their ⁢roles now increasingly handed over ⁣to drones.

“Uncrewed aerial systems have already taken crewed reconnaissance helicopters out of ​a ‍lot of their missions,” said Mick Ryan, a former Australian army major general⁢ who publishes regular commentaries on the conflict.‍ “We are starting to⁤ see ​ground-based‌ artillery observers replaced ⁢by drones. So, we are already starting to‍ see some replacement.”

(Reporting by David Lague. Edited by Peter Hirschberg.)

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Commercial Software Developers in the Arms Market:

By David Lague⁣ SYDNEY (Reuters) – Some technology experts⁢ believe⁣ innovative commercial software developers now entering the arms market‍ are challenging⁢ the dominance of the traditional defense industry.