From lasers and swarms of drones - how do you see the battle space evolving in the near and distant future?

2019-02-11T17:44:41-05:00

Just saw this and was wondering if indeed this is the battle space of the future. Lasers and swarms of drones to big data managing the battle space. Will low tech asymmetrical warfare become extinct or will tech transcend the battle space in ways unimagined. What are your thoughts on emerging war fighting technology?

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/swarm-killer-raytheons-mobile-laser-defense-sci-fi-battlefield-35062

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/lovesick-cyborg/2017/08/18/israeli-military-veterans-built-a-sniper-drone/#.XGH40VxKibg

Swarm Killer: Raytheon's Mobile Laser Defense Is Sci-Fi on the Battlefield

But will it actually make it to the battlefield?

Response by CW5 Jack Cardwell made Feb 11 at 2019 5:48 PM

2019-02-11T17:48:15-05:00

Just a matter of time !

Response by SSG Dave Johnston made Feb 11 at 2019 5:55 PM

2019-02-11T17:55:41-05:00

Long range and up-close and personal. There will always be a need for grunts to slog through the mess made by the "Big-Guns"; then there's always the "Snake eaters" doing their thing. Don't you read Science Fiction, they already discussed all the issues. Somebody always has to hold the real estate...

Response by SSG Carlos Madden made Feb 11 at 2019 6:04 PM

2019-02-11T18:04:43-05:00

Drones. Lots of Drones. Drones that will carry payloads. Drones that will be used for surveillance. Drones that will be used for real time data collection and processing. I also see more resources put into our special operations as well as continuing the integration of our armed forces with intelligence agencies. I doubt low tech asymmetrical warfare will ever become obsolete because there are always impoverished regions with bad actors that won't have access to the latest and greatest. In fact, they'll exploit our dependency on technology with simple, low tech solutions.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 11 at 2019 6:05 PM

2019-02-11T18:05:44-05:00

1. I think it is important for people to realize that what used to be expensive high tech now not-so-expensive high tech. And that the use of drones is well within the reach of non-state actors.
2. My understanding of asymmetric warfare is that it refers to any participant in a conflict making use of technologies or TTPs that circumvent or defeat their enemy's capabilities by making use of an unexpected, poorly defended aspect of the situation. That is not a new thing, and I don't see any reason why would go away. What is the difference between technological or tactical innovation and asymmetric warfare? is it scale? Is it a term we only want to apply to adaptations used by non-state or conventionally-weak actors? That seems to be the most common use.

Like any participant in a conflict, I think non-state actors and nations with weak conventional capabilities will seek out ways of defeating much more powerful adversaries. When an enemy tries for violent, disturbing spectacles on TV and social media, they are engaging asymmetric warfare. I would expect the bad guys to use whatever is available to them, and certainly unmanned systems are within the ability of any group that has members who can program and work with electronics. Your smartphone is little computer. You can buy a Beagle Bone or a Raspberry Pi for a very little money. But my understanding is that the military is already aware of this and developing and deploying systems to defend against it. At the same time, you may remember a few weeks ago when Gatwick airport in London was brought to a stand still by drones that might or might not have actually been there in the vicinity.

As far as Big Data - I think there is plenty of application for that in defense, but mostly in areas that already very tech-centric. Away from very technical aspects of the battlefield, (in other words, when people start talking about applying currently hot tech buzzwords to leadership and command - (no, I've never commanded anything obviously, but stay with me here)) - I caution to Beware of the Buzzwords. Even (especially?) in the business world, the hype around the latest tech fad is orders of magnitude beyond the current state of the art and opportunities for practical application.

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Feb 11 at 2019 6:53 PM

2019-02-11T18:53:56-05:00

Eventually, just think about battlefields have changed since WWI.

Response by LCDR Joshua Gillespie made Feb 12 at 2019 12:24 PM

2019-02-12T12:24:42-05:00

Well, that depends on a couple of things. I think tech has reached a saturation point-we're either headed for cyborgs... or we're headed for MadMax. The individual warfighter is evolving from a mass-produced asset, to a very specialized (and very rare) quotient on the battlefield. We're relying heavily on technologies to bear the load, requiring larger support and servicing pipelines. Where that "may" fail us is if/when threats develop effective countermeasures, and what's needed is weight of numbers. From what I can tell, we're not developing that now, and are slowly...painfully recognizing the possible threats.

Response by FN Kenneth Finks made Feb 12 at 2019 11:23 PM

2019-02-12T23:23:12-05:00

It's not a laser it's a radio wave signal jamer