Ted Maciuba

In late 2021, the new means of warfare were confidently being described as ‘grey zone’, ‘sub liminal’ and ‘below the threshold’. Cyber and influence tools were the future. But by February 2022 War was suddenly 20th Century redux, a tapestry of trenches, bayonets and massed artillery.

The picture, of course, is more complicated and nuanced. Technology is disrupting practices and doing so right across battlespace. But hybrid warfare has very much not disappeared and political warfare in its many forms remains the overt strategy of several States.

This book unpicks the arguments made pre and post 2022 and, based on interviews with experts from around the world, seeks to dissect battlecraft’s enduring themes and how these may affect conflicts’ current norms.

Uncrewed systems, especially those that are remote-controlled, require the ability to exchange data over a network. For applications such as surveillance and reconnaissance, the ability of uncrewed systems to stream data is critical for enhancing the situational awareness of the human component. All of this will need to take place at the edge with constrained bandwidths and in environments where adversaries will try to jam and deny access to the network.

• The Internet of Battlefield Things? How do we view the Future digital Operating Environment? What will characterise it?
• Do we need to assure network access? What is the role of reversionary modes or preprogrammes action when access to the network is gone? Is that a suitable solution or is assured access critical?
• How to minimize latency? What can be done to reduce latency? What is the optimal package size to transmit data? Where should processing take place to reduce lag? Does existing technology meet the requirement?