Commercial technology driving investments for combat operations, analysis finds

Iran and proxy forces used commercially available assets to threaten US destroyers like USS Laboon shown here operating in the Red Sea. (Michael Fabey)

The US military needs to adapt more quickly and efficiently to deal with modern warfare, especially when in the realm of communications and electronic warfare (EW), according to Bryan Clark, a senior fellow for the Hudson Institute.

“Modern military communications are increasingly similar to commercial mobile terrestrial and satellite networks and often military forces use commercial systems due to their availability, low cost, and lack of sensitive components,” Clark told Janes on 23 July during a briefing about Hudson Institute analysis of wargames the think tank has executed with the US Navy (USN) the past three years.

The Hudson Institute is slated to release a report on its wargame analysis and recommendations.

Missiles and one-way attack drones leverage commercial components such as guidance computers, servo motors, and sensors, Clark noted.

Command-and-control (C2) software is often derived from commercial planning and workflow algorithms, especially as AI (artificial intelligence) becomes a greater contributor to computer-based decision support tools, he said.

Commercial developments

Commercial-use cases emerged in the 21st century that drove significant investments in digital systems which continue today with the buildout of computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) models and inference, he said.

Smaller nations and non-state militaries are benefitting from the products of commercial research and development (R&D) to develop and deploy new missiles and drones, sensors and countermeasures, and AI-enabled command and control (C2) tools, Clark noted.