AI is a huge deal- plays a big role on the battle ground

“These types of attacks pose one of the more significant risks to ground vehicles and in-field operations, where vehicles and personnel are left exposed and less able to maneuver across certain terrains,” Stewart says.

In the future, uncrewed systems powered by AI will be the norm, which will fundamentally change battlefield strategies, he argues.

“Robotics enhance force protection by reducing the reliance on human operators in high-risk environments, mitigating potential casualties, and preserving operational continuity in the face of adversarial swarm attacks,” Stewart says. “These platforms can operate autonomously or collaboratively with crewed assets, forming a networked ecosystem capable of adapting and responding to swarms in real time.”

In an experiment involving manned aircraft, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conducted the first-ever in-air tests of AI algorithms piloting an F-16 fighter jet autonomously in April 2024, after years of preliminaries. The AI did more than pilot the plane – it engaged in direct combat scenarios against a human-piloted counterpart. The test was part of DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program, which is dedicated to integrating AI into tactical aviation and establishing a framework for ethical and trusted human-machine teaming.

AI also enables faster deployment of capabilities to the field. Doug Beck, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, said at the XPONENTIAL 2024 exhibition in April 2024 that the DoD is using AI and machine learning (ML) to speed up software improvements to uncrewed vehicles across the services from a matter of months to a few days.