British Army splashes $86M on AI gear to speed up the battlefield kill chain
British soldiers are to get an array of AI-ready kit that should mean they don't have to wait to see the "whites of their eyes" before pulling the trigger.
The £86 million contract covers the Dismounted Data System (DDS). According to an MoD statement, "the AI-capable equipment includes radios, headsets, display tablets, cables, batteries, pouches, and antennas."
This will deliver both voice and visual data, thereby "maximizing effectiveness across all battlefield situations."
The MoD said this digital panoply means troops will receive "precise information on surroundings and intelligence, meaning increased clarity on who are enemies and who are comrades."
The kit was already trialed in Estonia as part of the MoD's Project ASGARD. This week's statement said the "visual information element" allowed "soldiers to be less distracted by loud noises on the battlefield."
According to a statement last year, the DDS "harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) and innovative communication technologies, allowing battlefield decisions that once took hours to now be made in minutes."
Around the same time, the Army said "ASGARD uses artificial intelligence and secure communications to help soldiers make faster decisions about targets, saving crucial time in combat."
It added that ASGARD "combines weapon systems, surveillance equipment, automated technology, digital connections and data analysis."
General Sir Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff, said at the time: "Today, the UK possesses a similar Recce-Strike system to the one used by Ukraine to maul Russian forces in the Donbas. That system now sits at the heart of our Forward Land Forces in Estonia."
In terms familiar to those whose military experience is limited to movies, the aim is to "destroy enemies far beyond the horizon, long before seeing the whites of their eyes."
As well as the DDS, ASGARD includes the DART 250 One Way Effector, a "loitering" jet-powered attack drone that trebles the distance at which enemy infrastructure can be targeted, and a mission support network to accelerate targeting.
The UK's defense establishment and NATO are racing to adopt AI and other technologies as part of a rapid rearming effort, drawing lessons from how Ukraine has used technology in its war against Russia.
Just over a year ago, British MPs called on the MoD to transform itself into an AI-native organization, saying at the time the department was not "AI-ready," with mentions of AI abounding in policy documents, less so in contracts awarded. ®
