Artificial Intelligence Applications in Defence Department

Popularity of AI

The 21st century can be considered as the revolutionary age of technology. We have seen some major advancements in the field of technology in the last decade and it is still going on at a rapid pace. The technology which is new today will become obsolete tomorrow as the speed of development with new concepts and techniques are born every day. In this rising tide of revolutionary technology, the two most popular concepts which have gained the most attraction are AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Machine Learning.

AI has allowed us to eliminate the factor of human errors from any kind of work. It has led to a huge increase in the demand for artificial intelligence in various fields. Most of the industries are coming up with innovative ways to implement AI systems to enhance their work output.

The digital-based companies are the leading entities when it comes to large scale applications of AI. It is closely followed by machinery manufacturing enterprises while another avenue which is implementing AI on a large scale is the defence industry. 

How AI is implemented in defence systems?

Artificial intelligence is very helpful in providing predictive results from the analysis of the collected data. That's the main reason behind AI why it is increasingly becoming an integral part of the defence and modern warfare systems. AI is being used to enhance military intelligence by compiling it with the results given by the AI systems. 

AI is finding opportunities in the fields where humans fall short like detecting hidden underwater mines or aircraft patrolling patterns of the enemies. Also, the various statistical analysis combined with the AI systems can forecast any kind of attack details and even pinpoint the locations of some hidden enemy hideouts. 

Some of the major applications of AI systems in defence mechanisms are explained below in detail. 

Cybersecurity: As we know that the world now is in a digital era where almost every data from every transaction is available on digital platforms. This data often includes sensitive and confidential information about the nation’s defence systems so the concept of defence data security becomes an important factor. AI systems nowadays are being used to provide cybersecurity for the data related to defence. AI systems learn the patterns of the authorised personnel and differentiate that from the behaviour of any malicious software or any attempt to access confidential information from an unreliable source. AI systems automatically detect threats and prevent any cyber-attack at the primary stage. In addition, AI systems can also learn the patterns of external attacks on the system and can develop counter attack mechanisms accordingly to provide security. 

Transportation and Logistics: Logistics and transportation services are very crucial for any defence system as the supply of essential equipment for the soldiers should always be kept un-interrupted for the sake of security. AI is being incorporated increasingly in transportation systems to enhance the security of various military transportation and defence equipment. Fully AI operated cars can be used to reduce the human effort and risk factors involved. Also, the system can be programmed to detect any kind of anomalous behaviour and take the necessary measures to tackle them. AI is very useful for providing logistics as they can give an accurate reading of faults and failures in the various components which require immediate attention. This system can be used to perform predictive maintenance and reduce errors in reasonable time consumption.

Platforms for warfare: The major countries around the world are making maximum use of AI systems to improve their warfare and defence systems. Artificial intelligence is being used in various warfare pieces of machinery and defence mechanisms to improve the effective performance of the machinery. AI systems do not require us to rely on imperfect human inputs. Instead, we get the objective and precise input from the machine so that the results obtained would be more accurate. It has considerably reduced the response time of various defence systems and allows us to perform any kind of operations more accurately from thousands of miles away. The efficiency of the defence system increases many folds when combined with artificial intelligence. 

Medical service on the battlefield: Medical backup is very crucial for the nation’s defence. We all know that it is very difficult to provide medical support on the battlefield. For this reason, many countries are developing prototypes that are fully AI controlled medical assistants to provide medical support for the soldiers. These AI assistants are fully equipped with the medical history of the soldiers that help them to cross-reference the present data with the previous information to provide the most effective diagnosis and take the measures accordingly. This ensures faster recovery of the soldier, better remedial support, and reduced human risk. AI operated machines can also be used to provide security and medical support while an evacuation process is underway. It ensures more enhanced security. 

Recognition of target: The most vital aspect of any kind of defence activity is the recognition of potential targets. AI systems are widely being used to compile data from previous attacks and activities to identify the hotspots for enemy activities. The information stored in the database can be used effectively to identify the targets and locations which can pose a major threat. AI systems compile data simultaneously according to various aspects like environmental conditions, weather forecasts, and geographic advantages. They all give us a more effective help in framing the strategies for any mission and also helps us by providing the various probable scenarios which we might have to face during the mission. So, overall, the use of AI for target recognition effectively increases the probability of success.

Monitoring of threat and awareness of situation: The aspect of surveillance and reconnaissance is a major part of any nation’s defence mechanism. Surveillance is important for accumulating the necessary information about the enemies and devise the defensive strategy accordingly. However, performing surveillance operations can be very dangerous as often one has to venture into the enemy lines to gather necessary intelligence. AI systems have given us a major benefit in this avenue by allowing us to create un-manned surveillance systems that can enter hostile areas and collect the required data. They can collect and process more data compared to their human counterparts and are also more effective in identifying threats. They can relay the important information instantly back to the headquarters to save time. AI-controlled drones can run 24-hour surveillance across the border and provide updates every minute. They can also identify potential threats and send information to take effective measures without loss of any valuable time.  

Processing of information: As mentioned earlier, the biggest advantage of AI is that it can effectively analyse a large amount of data in significantly less amount of time and provide us the required results. This is the main reason behind incorporating AI in various fields, especially in defence. The data obtained from AI surveillance and reconnaissance are used to produce various threat patterns, formulate different strategies as well as the plans to tackle. Often these datasets can reveal various enemy patterns that are not visible to the naked eye. Thus, it can give an edge over the enemies so that we can make necessary arrangements to strengthen the nation’s defence systems. The AI systems can process a large amount of data in a comparatively shorter time as compared to normal strategists so that we can make up the valuable time loss by using artificial intelligence. Since we can formulate better strategies with the help of AI, it helps us to prevent valuable resources and life losses.

The age of automation

We are presently witnessing an increasing tendency to reduce human effort by employing the machines to take place for our important works. This has led to the popularity of automation in various industries where AI is the most efficient way to achieve complete automation of any service. Most of the firms are looking to automate most of their activities.

All the major nations’ governments are also eyeing AI to achieve automation in defence systems to save valuable resources and time. Although the application of AI in defence systems is very popular right now, very few countries are equipped with the knowledge and resources to implement them on a large and commercial scale.

However, it cannot be denied that this is a rising trend and will only increase in the future with the resources being depleted rapidly. On the other hand, everyone is trying their best to get their hands on technically advanced weapons. To enhance the nation’s defence every military person will have to equip AI defence mechanisms to tackle the advanced weapons and prevent any kind of incoming threats. 

With the advent of the digital age and increased use of data in almost every field, the need for upgrading the defence systems are now higher than ever. To keep up with the rapid advancement of technology and the evolution of the threats, we face every day that AI is the only way to effectively strengthen the defence mechanisms and provide better security.