From the days of spears and swords, humans have always fought each other, either one-on-one or in groups.
Fast forward to gunpowder, industrial revolutions, air power, and revolutions in military affairs (RMA), it was always humans-built arms equipment used against humans, either combatants or non-combatants. However, a lot has changed since the information revolution in the late 20th Century, particularly in the nature and character of warfare.
With the advent of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), though I would prefer to call them Non-humanoid Aerial Vehicles (NHAVs), warfare is shifting hands at a rapid pace. While the primary target will remain the people, so that they lose confidence in the state’s ability to protect them, the people attacking will not be visible on the battlefield.
The integration of AI aims to remove humans from the decision-making loop, as machines can process significantly more data than humans can before making a decision.
While introducing the term non-humanoid warfare, if it is not already in the strategic literature, I do not intend to challenge an already popular phrase of the 21st Century, the hybrid warfare, even though the concept is as old as warfare. The warfare has always been hybrid because initiators would utilise all available means, following the principles of concentration of force and offensive action. Because the piecemeal attacks were counterproductive and risked failure in achieving the politico-military objectives.
Back to the title, the transformed warfare calls for an enhanced employment of non-humanoid assets assisted by artificial intelligence to ensure accuracy at minimal risk and lower costs. The accuracy is enhanced due to multiple sensors installed in the UAVs, which are capable of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Command and Control (C2), and locating and launching the suitable weapon to neutralise the target. This unique capability of multitasking of advanced UAVs and UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles) makes them an ideal choice to act as war openers, something attack aircraft used to do.
The integration of AI aims to remove humans from the decision-making loop, as machines can process significantly more data than humans can before making a decision. This is interesting because human created these machines, made them autonomous, and now these machines are not only eating the jobs of their developers but are also being used to target them from far-off distances. Moreover, they are capable of operating in all weather conditions, both day and night.
The second important aspect after accuracy is the avoidance of exposing humans to advanced air defence systems that the opponents may have. The UAVs, due to their small radar signature, can penetrate the war zones at large distances due to their long endurance, loiter for much more extended periods waiting for the opportunity targets without risking the lives of humans. Moreover, the endurance limitations of humans are also taken care of.
The third significant consideration is the cost of the equipment in all its stages: development, production, maintenance, and operations. While the UAVs cannot carry the amount of payload that modern bombers can, the deficiency can be overcome by sending a larger number of platforms due to their lower costs.
The multiple tasks that a single UAV or a UCAV can perform include ISR, C2, EW, attack, and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA). Moreover, all of these tasks can be performed at greater ranges, at all times, and without any human intervention, after it has been programmed and launched. These advanced UAVs can do mid-course corrections and can be diverted for a different task, if required.
The irony is that if a malfunction occurs and the autonomous machines engage the wrong targets, humans will still be blamed. Yet, humans continue to create machines using AI, program their ability to process and store large amounts of data, quickly interpret and analyse, and make autonomous decisions. This injected ability by humans in their created machines is now challenging the very creator’s ability to think faster and make the right decision.
In my opinion, humans have no choice but to accept the fact that they have created monsters against themselves, and now they need to adapt to the reality that the future belongs to the tech-nations. China is already working on intelligenceized warfare by taking human-machine integration to the next level. Now that the AI has been weaponised and militarised, one will have to wait for it to start refusing human input at the time of programming the assigned task, design a mission for itself, select the best-suited weapon systems, and decide whether to go or not.
This is the most unfortunate aspect of the dual-use technologies humans develop, which they then use against themselves. These machines can only cause pain to humans and add to their sufferings in different ways, but they would not feel the pain themselves. This is the significant difference between non-humanoid warfare against humans, because in the era of humans versus humans, the pain would stop the war at some stage. That stage may not come, especially for advanced nations that develop and own such technologies.
The writer of this article has authored four international books: Nuclear Deterrence and Conflict Management Between India and Pakistan, South Asia Needs Hybrid Peace, Understanding Sun Tzu and the Art of Hybrid War, and Diplomacy and Deterrence.”