The Development of AI-Enabled Military Equipment in Ukraine and the Implications for Military Interoperability

In the past two and a half years, the Russo-Ukrainian War has uncovered how war on the modern battlefield is no longer exclusively waged on the physical domain, and new capabilities can be leveraged instead of conventional approaches to defence. Armed conflict has expanded to encompass new battlefronts that increasingly depend on the virtual domain (Furlong et al, 2022). Cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) are reshaping armed conflict, impacting every aspect of warfare from automated frontline systems to logistics, and enhancing multi-domain situational awareness. According to the Land4Developers platform, a marketplace and network of industrial engineering experts from Ukraine, over a dozen Ukrainian companies offer products and services in predictive analytics (Land 4 Developers, 2022). The partnership between tech firms and the Ukrainian military, which allegedly includes having a software engineer within each battalion, is sparking a new wave of development and testing with military AI (Bergengruen, 2024). In resisting Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian defence proved to be better equipped than anticipated (Furlong et al., 2022). Ukraine’s military performance has offered valuable lessons for both emerging and already established military powers on the benefits of partnering with tech companies to gain quicker access to the latest innovative technologies. Although the Russo-Ukrainian conflict’s outcome is still uncertain, it has highlighted the critical role of public-private partnerships in rapidly advancing military technology. The integration of AI-enabled tools in Ukraine’s defence demonstrates that collaboration between governmental bodies and private tech firms is essential for the swift development and deployment of cutting-edge military technologies. This paper explores how the partnership between the public and private sectors has shaped Ukraine’s defence strategies and examines the implications for enhancing military interoperability across Europe.

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Cloud Computing in Defence

Information superiority is critical to modern combat, and in a changing digital landscape, investment in cloud technology is paramount to maintaining these defence capabilities. During warfare, military forces must gather and analyse extensive data to stay ahead of adversaries. However, warfare has evolved from traditional battles on land, sea and air to encompass various interrelated types of war, including cyberwarfare, information warfare, and space warfare. The evolution of warfare is compounded by the effects of technology, which increase the speed at which war is fought and managed. However, the success of decision-making that modern warfare requires relies on the ability of information technology systems to rapidly process large amounts of data (Defence One, n.d.). New technology is outperforming these older IT systems, and European militaries must adopt new technology, specifically Cloud computing to maintain information superiority which underpins successful warfare. Cloud will likely serve as the backbone of all future digital defence capabilities; thus, investment in this technology is fundamental to maintaining information superiority. Cloud is more than just a storage platform as it can host various computing tools that assist in information superiority through situational awareness, contributing to efficient decision-making during conflict. In 2019, the European Defence Agency financed a study about cloud computing for the defence sector (European Defence Agency, 2024). The EDA’s study, Cloud Intelligence for Decision-Making Support and Analysis (CLAUDIA), ended this January (European Defence Agency, 2024). The study was run in collaboration with GMV, a private capital technology business group (GVM, n.d.), and The Information Processing and Telecommunications Center (IP&T Center) (European Defence Agency, n.d.). This paper explores the notion of cloud computing, and using the case studies of CLAUDIA, NATO and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), it delves into three uses of cloud in the defence sector, including source analysis, edge computing and multi-domain operations. Finally, the analysis discusses challenges associated with cloud technology, including digital sovereignty and the need for cultural shifts within the defence sector.

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Italy Might Join the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) Initiative

On 24 August, La Tribune reported that France and Italy agreed on proposing to Germany Rome’s inclusion, represented by Leonardo, a prominent Italian defence company, in the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) programme (Cabirol, 2023). The MGCS aims to develop a future land warfare system that includes a Main Battle Tank (MBT) around 2040 (Oestergaard, 2021). This news was unsurprising since Italian participation had already been envisaged (Valpolini, 2020; Arivella & Moran, 2022). Until now, Paris has opposed the inclusion of other states. However, this move reflects an effort to restore balance in the initiative’s power dynamics, taking advantage of the fruitful history of Franco-Italian defence industrial cooperation (Defence Industry Europe, 2023; Meta Défense, 2023).

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