Military Technology 05/2021

Guest Editorial MT 5/2021 · 5 institutes and the defence industry – largely due to the large budgets and resources these entities invested in developing tools and technologies to assist them and assure their advantage in future conflicts. These tech- nologies, which proved to be both effective and cost-effective, were later approved for commercial use, influencing the lives of billions worldwide. Following the end of the Cold War, military spending decreased. In par- allel, commercial companies, particularly the information technology and automotive industries, became increasingly innovative. The analogous balance sheet was reversed, so that, today, many leading technologies used for both defence and civil purposes – such as connectivity, informa- tion-sharing platforms and orientation-based applications – were initially developed by commercial entities for civil use, only later being migrat- ed to the military world. The numbers speak for themselves: Microsoft, Apple, Google and other leading commercial companies have surpassed defence industry stalwarts such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, in terms of both revenues and market capitalisation. In the past, soldiers had to spend long weeks, sometimes months, learning how to operate sophisticated military systems. Today’s soldiers grew up using advanced technologies from childhood. As military sys- tems are based to a large extent on similar technologies to those in daily commercial use, the cognitive challenge is not as significant as it used to be – and soldiers easily make the transition from playing Fortnight and Minecraft , or ordering a taxi through Uber, to operating sophisticated military systems and machines they have never met before. The concept of operating virtual entities and sharing firepower of all sorts – from regional task forces to their higher command levels – is a giant leap in modern warfare. It can be achieved today thanks to cognitive changes in the recruits, who acquired these skills from birth and grew up in an entirely different technological surrounding – exposed to virtual games and living their lives with advanced technologies as an integral component. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities – leading technologies that were originally developed for commercial purposes – have become far more prominent in the military arena, as it becomes clear that, even though we want a human to be the one making the final decision (the so-called ‘man in the loop’), it would be better if his or her decision-making were based on machine-generated recommendations and assistance. AI-based decision-making capabilities are crucial to the military arena – where a quick decision-making process is a part of the ‘game:’ he who acts first enjoys a significant advantage. Integrating high-end and advanced technologies also allows armies to be ‘small and smart’ – as a single soldier can operate a multifaceted system. Connectivity is an addi- tional technological ability that has become crucial to the military: sharing and receiving information in real time and operating unmanned systems with remote weapon stations in the line of sight. Nir-Or specialises in developing innovative situational awareness video systems with built-in AI capabilities, allowing automatic target and threat recognition. These systems are the core operational systems of the tools of war, including the entire panoply of armoured vehicles from tanks and personnel carriers to reconnaissance vehicles. They enable crew mem- bers to be connected and to be aware of their immediate surroundings while operating ‘under armour,’ with hatches closed – all in order to ensure that all crew members have a unified situational awareness picture, there- by greatly improving force survivability as well as lethality. The advanced displays use commercial-like applications to create a simple user inter- face that all soldiers will intuitively know how to operate. The systems can be remotely controlled – offering a wide range of semi-autonomous and unmanned capabilities. Armies today can leverage these advanced technologies to increase their lethality and be smart, slim, and connected. Nir-Or’s next challenge will be operating and controlling a variety of manned and unmanned plat- forms, in synschronised fashion, operating together on land, at sea and in the air, simultaneously, as an operational multitask force. Operating a Tank? It’s Like Playing Minecraft How Commercial Technologies Permeate and Redesign Military Systems Roy Riftin is CEO of Nir-Or Limited, a subsidiary of IMCO Industries with manufacturing facilities in Israel, the USA and India. The com- pany designs, develops, manufactures and integrates innovative electronic systems for a wide range of military applications. A 30- year veteran of the Israeli Defence Force, Riftin held a number of senior positions in the force, including Chief of Artillery, in the rank of Brigadier General. Prior to that appointment, he served as Head of Planning and Organisation for the Ground Forces and Head of the Operational Planning Department in the General Staff. He joined Nir-Or as CEO in 2020. As most people know, many of the essential services and applications we use in daily life, such as the internet and GPS, were initially developed for military purposes. Subsequently, they have permeated to the commer- cial world – and the rest is history. Until World War Two and the Cold War, some of the primary sources of new, innovative technologies were defence forces, military research Roy Riftin, CEO of Nir-Or Ltd. (Photo: Nir-Or Ltd.)