Military Intelligence: British Army Operation Using AI
The British Army has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the first time ever, during Exercise Spring Storm, as part of a joint military operation in Estonia. Soldiers from the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade used an AI engine which provides information on the surrounding environment and terrain. Through the development of significant automation and smart analytics, the engine is able to rapidly cut through masses of complex data.
Providing efficient information regarding the environment and terrain, it enables Army commanders to plan its appropriate activity and operational decisions. The AI capability, which can be hosted in the cloud or operate in independent mode, saves significant time and effort, providing soldiers with instant planning support and enhancing command and control processes.
During the annual large-scale NATO exercise, soldiers from France, Denmark, Belgium, Estonia and the UK used the technology whilst carrying out live-fire drills.
Defence has received an extra £24 billion across the next four years, focusing on the ability to adapt to meet future threats. The intention is to invest £6.6billion over the next four years in defence research and development, focusing on emerging technologies in AI-enabled autonomous systems, cyber space and directed energy systems.
The deployment was a first of its kind for the British Army, built on close collaboration with industry partners that developed AI specifically designed for the way the Army is trained to operate. The Army’s Director of Information, Major General Jonathan Cole said "The lessons this has provided are considerable, not just in terms of our support to deployed forces, but more broadly in how we inform Defence’s digital transformation agenda and the best practices we must adopt to integrate and exploit leading-edge technologies."
Military sources claim that the exercise outperformed their expectations and has clear applications for improving our level of analysis and speed to conduct planning. In future, the UK armed forces will increasingly use AI to predict adversaries’ behaviour, perform reconnaissance and relay real-time intelligence from the battlefield.
GovUK: Forces.net: SWArgus: AI Business:
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