Satellite view of ground objects.
The Pentagon is developing technology for “information dominance” over Russia and China. To confirm its effectiveness, a series of tests were conducted on the basis of US Space Command to determine the possibilities for achieving “information dominance” and “superiority in decision-making.” The armed forces of Russia and China were considered as conditional opponents.
Technological support for the simulation was provided by the Joint Center for Artificial Intelligence and Project Maven, a US Department of Defense project that uses artificial intelligence to analyze video surveillance data and quickly identify important information on the Internet. The military studied options to control and strike at selected space and ground targets in Russia and China.
The Pentagon stressed that new opportunities for obtaining data and information were not created, the experiment was carried out using the tools available to the Ministry of Defense today. All information came from existing satellites, radars, the cybernetic and reconnaissance capabilities of the military department were used. All this data was transferred to the cloud, where it was processed and analyzed using artificial intelligence technology. Based on the calculation, recommendations were provided to decision-makers, that is, commanders of various levels.
Based on the results of the experiment, the Pentagon came to the conclusion that, based on the assessment of patterns, anomalies and trends in massive data sets obtained from surveillance and reconnaissance means, it will be possible to predict in advance the development of the military-political situation, the possibility of the outbreak and development of an armed conflict. Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools give the Pentagon a significant advantage and actually create a situation of “information dominance”. First of all, this gives time for decision-making, which will allow, for example, to create in advance the forces of deterrence in the threatened direction in order to prevent the threat in a timely manner.
Recall that a report commissioned by the Pentagon this year states that the Russian armed forces are more technologically advanced than the United States anticipated, and are rapidly expanding the capabilities of artificial intelligence to achieve information advantage on the battlefield. In response, there was an immediate response, at the end of March, the US Department of Defense called for an increase in the use of new technologies so as not to lose to China and Russia. At the same time, military experts accused the Pentagon of succumbing to the excessive hype around artificial intelligence.
In recent years, the Pentagon has been actively implementing the concept of network-centric warfare (such a concept is aimed at increasing combat capabilities by achieving infocommunication superiority), within which the troops must behave as a single whole due to the close connection between the units scattered on the battlefield. In the future, it involves the creation of a comprehensive “network of networks” with support for artificial intelligence and cloud storage. As expected, hyperlinks will be able to give access to any information from any theater of war to any soldier.
