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2020-08-09

The Role of AI and Data in Combat

Technology is not just utilised to improve the way we connect and work as it is also defining how we defend our countries. With disruptive technology driving rapid change across so many industries today, the defence sector is no different.

In 2019, the UAE increased its defence spending from Dhs 6.1 billion to Dhs 8.6 billion. By any definition, this increase of 41 per cent is very big business.

The technology in defence is undergoing a revolution with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things. Technological advances in defence have focused on making personnel more effective and more efficient so they can now afford to spend less time on routine administration and more time on mission-essential elements of defence.

The new world of ‘hybrid warfare’ is now evolving at a similarly rapid rate. The most typical modern threats rely on smart technology that compromise communications channels, with armed drones or viruses having the ability to affect the lives of people thousands of miles away without so much as moving from their couches.

Thales’ TrUE Artificial Intelligence

Now more than ever, informational superiority has become a means to achieve operational superiority and the key to a successful defence operation. But with great power comes an ever greater need to implement an approach governed by ethics and transparency.

With TrUE AI, or Transparent, Understandable and Ethical Artificial Intelligence, Thales has developed its own approach to AI to help its customers in critical environments. Intelligence lies at the core of Thales’ solutions, while transparency is the key to justifying both the results and the manner in which they were achieved.

Thales emphasises that users should always be able to trace the reasoning behind a decision and, where necessary, ‘formally prove’ it. In other words, AI must also be understandable if it is to converse with humans and justify its choices.

What’s more, ethics must never be sidelined. Humans remain at the heart of the process and responsible for the ultimate decision made aided by Artificial Intelligence as an invaluable technology insofar as it advises as well as assists in the decision-making process.

Element of Aerial Surprise

Today, air commanders are privy to more information now than ever before meaning that airborne threats don’t just occur through conventional dangers. If information is not managed efficiently, it can be more of a hinderance than a help in aerial connected collaborative combat.

From drones to hypersonic missiles and cyber-attacks, a range of mechanisms of varying sophistication now confront air forces. Aerial connected collaborative combat thus enables air forces to detect and potentially transform those surprises into opportunities.

With the help of Artificial Intelligence, combat personnel can recognise and flag threatening patterns and behaviour almost instantaneously. Having analysed information available at their fingertips, air force personnel can then apply well-timed strategic advice.

‘Internet of Air Combat’

The key to effective air combat lies not only in connecting forces amongst themselves, but in securing communications. The latest most valuable players in the field include Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Connectivity and Cybersecurity which together create a super-power called the ‘Internet of Air Combat’, enabling critical information to be shared and applied continuously.

Advanced AI and data analytics can aid in managing air traffic at airports and preventing midair collisions. In a similar vein, they can transform raw information from sensors into recognisable objects and identify their typical behaviour in the battle field.

Enormous amounts of raw data can also be processed in record time with unparalleled accuracy, honing in on strategic choices for combat personnel to consider. However, this is only possible if these personnel are connected to an interface that is intuitive to use in stressful times.

Drone to the Rescue

Drone technology has come a long way since its inception and is now finding application in unmanned aerial vehicles. The popularity of military drones has skyrocketed in recent years, with remote-controlled vehicles carrying out a number of tasks, from aerial inspection of a terrain to operating an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Technology today is designed to engage a squad of drones able to act in complete coordination with one another, even mimicking the behaviour of biological organisms like bees or starlings. In turn, secure control systems can intercept and communicate an array of airborne threats, from small unarmed air vehicles to combat aircrafts.

In view of the growing traffic of drones, sophisticated technology has now emerged to detect, identify, track and neutralise unmanned air vehicles at a relatively long range, where infrared cameras, radio frequency detection and a holographic radar system work together to provide 3D identification, even tracking drones as far as seven kilometres away. A customisable communications system manned by a skilled pilot can neutralise a drone, jam communications between a drone and its pilot and even take control of it.

With pilots steering this complex technology, military units across the world are engaging drones to channel remote video and audio communication to ground troops and the military base. Drone technology has been instrumental in tracking enemy movement and conducting explorative missions in unchartered territories, which means that human personnel no longer have to be put at risk to access hostile territories and scan possible threats.

Drones can now search for lost or injured soldiers, share vital insights within rescue operations and collate intelligence. Drawing once more upon a vast possibility of usage, drone technology has also been instrumental in mitigation procedures after a war.

For so many countries now, it is thus unsurprising that preventative defence technology is a primary area for investment. With protection and prevention becoming a priority, border surveillance drones are now positioned to aid with peace-keeping operations, supported by drones and data collected by biometric technologies.

Better Visibility, Clearer Advantage

There is no margin for error in the stressful positions and critical environments of combat, entailing that AI-based solutions developed by Thales are very different to those developed for the general public. Within a life-threatening environment, coherent communication is made challenging by extreme climate, remote locations and vast distances between personnel and their family.

Finding a solution to create clear and secure channels of communication is critical in times of war, where unmanned air systems deployed in demanding conditions are privy to surveillance technology. These systems can span over a 50-kilometre radius with five hours of autonomy, even under extreme temperatures and altitudes, while those assigned to combat can look forward to gaining a definitive tactical advantage at the moments that matter the most.

Hence, there is no longer any doubt of the benefits of secure communications in combat. Increased connectivity will yield quantum leaps in communications exchanges and result in better field performance, while integrating AI and data with cloud technology will mean a big boost in data storage and capacity.

The instrumental considerations are now clear to secure a greater degree of protection of communication through enhanced cybersecurity. A collaborative approach is key to nurturing ‘partnerships’ between humans, equipment and AI across platforms and sensors, including radar and optronics.

AI-drives True Collaborative Combat

Artificial Intelligence has proven to be a game-changer in every sector of the economy, be it for transportation, defence or security. However, in critical environments with no margin for error, AI-based solutions cannot be the same as those developed for the general public.

In response, Thales has adapted AI to fit the constraints of those environments in which its customers operate. Here, critical operations require safety, responsibility and compliance with standards, laws and ethical principles.

In conclusion, true collaborative combat is the culmination of a system of connecting equipment from different sources and platforms, thereby linking new equipment with legacy equipment. In the new age of asymmetric technological war, never has the saying ‘the whole greater than the sum of its parts’ ever rung truer.

Credit Text/Photo: www.thalesgroup.com

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