Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sept. 16 that the U.S. military must adapt quickly to a new kind of conflict in which artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous systems, cyber capabilities, and other technologies are reshaping battlefield operations and accelerating the pace of military decisions.
Speaking at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference, Caine said the military’s experience over the past 25 years largely centered on counterinsurgency operations in which U.S. forces held decisive advantages in areas including airpower, the electromagnetic spectrum, logistics, and force protection.
Those assumptions no longer hold, according to Caine. The modern battlefield, he said, extends from the seabed to space and through cyberspace and the information environment.
“In the future fight, advantage will go to the side who can see first, who can understand first, decide first, and act first,” Caine said. “No factor is accelerating change as fast as artificial intelligence and advancing cyber capabilities. AI is here now, and it’s already changing the way militaries see, sense, decide, and act.”
AI, autonomous systems reshape battlefield operations
Caine pointed to recent military operations and the war in Ukraine as examples of how AI and autonomous systems are changing the way forces find targets, operate in contested environments, and conduct rescue missions.
He cited the June 8 crash of an Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter near Oman, on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, as an example of the kind of technology-enabled adaptation he wants the joint force to embrace.
U.S. Central Command launched a joint search-and-rescue effort for the Apache’s two-person crew. For the first time, AI-enabled unmanned vessels were used in the rescue of downed U.S. service members, Caine said.
He credited the effort not to sailors and other joint force members who managed networks of unmanned systems across thousands of miles of water.
“[They used] AI to turn massive amounts of data into a crisp, clear, perfect maritime picture that allowed us to go grab those two soldiers in the water,” Caine said.
Caine also pointed to Ukraine, where first-person-view drones operate in heavily contested electromagnetic environments. He said some AI-enabled drones use computer vision to continue toward targets when GPS is unavailable or communications links are cut.
“This is what happens when low-cost precision is fielded fast, adapted quickly, and scaled across the battlefield,” Caine said.
Faster government-industry cooperation
Caine said the pace of military requirements and acquisition must also change alongside technology-driven threats. Government and industry need to share risk and move faster, he said, with greater emphasis on outcomes rather than activity.
He urged industry partners to provide quality weapons on time, with shorter lead times and lower costs, while ensuring those systems can survive initial combat.
“We must move together because the window to build the force that we need is closing. We can buy almost anything in life, but we cannot buy time,” Caine said.