Written by: Vincent Chaput Edited by: Tomas Farinha Carney The United Kingdom, Japan and Italy are on the verge of signing up an unprecedented agreement to begin the construction of…
Airbus and the Dutch industrial supplier VDL Group struck a partnership on January 10th to develop and manufacture a laser communication terminal for military aircraft. The communication terminal, known as UltraAir, would allow for more significant amounts of data sharing between ground terminals, satellites, and crewed aircraft or autonomous drones. The two organisations will begin preparing a prototype and aim for a first test flight in 2024 (Airbus, 2023).
Technological innovations are present in many civil sectors, with the military being no exception, making processes faster and more efficient. New technologies, which can include unmanned systems, Additive Manufacturing (AM), Artificial Intelligence (AI) or even 5G, are changing warfare and its logistics tail, which is the amount of personnel and material needed to supply and support, at the same time. The introduction of these improvements is essential for the development of military capabilities and operations, as well as for improving defence logistics by enhancing accuracy, intelligence and resources while reducing costs and risks in multiple areas (Institute for Defence & Business, 2022). This Info Flash aims to analyse and provide examples of how new technologies can shape the future of logistics in the military, especially for the European Armed Forces.
With the live coverage of the war in Ukraine from media all around the world, it is easy to run into photos or videos of Russian tanks. In Ukraine, Russia’s main battle tank (MBT) is the T-72, but they also deployed some T-80s and some T-90s. By carefully looking at these units, it can be noticed that Russian, but also Ukrainian tanks are equipped with small blocks all around their armour. These blocks are an additional defensive armour, which serves the purpose to protect the tank and its crew from anti-tank weapons. This additional armour is called Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA).
In this article, we will present the seven technologies under development, which are at different stages of technological maturation, but which all have the potential to profoundly transform the battlefield by 2040, to the point of creating new forms of war or confrontation hitherto unknown, or even to render obsolete certain technologies which today represent a strategic pivot of the organisation of La Défense: directed energy weapons, quantum computers, hypersonic weapons, intelligence artificial intelligence, rail guns, robotics and the controversial neutrino detectors.
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