British Army to check new AI app that may assist troopers KILL the enemy
British soldiers will soon be aided by a ‘game-changing’ artificial intelligence app that will sift through the huge volume of battlefield data and tell commanders how to defeat the enemy in record time, MailOnline can reveal.
The state-of-the-art tech is currently in development, with military chiefs set to get their first taste of the kit during experimental trials later this year.
The AI app aims to slash the time it takes officers to make decisions in a war zone by trawling through the vast amount of intelligence and alerting soldiers to potential enemy threats, like missiles strikes. troop movements and swarm drone attacks.
It comes as one of the developers behind the innovation insisted the tech was not going to lead to a Terminator-style AI apocalypse, adding: ‘AI could make a mistake. That’s why there’s always a requirement for responsible human overseeing the decision.’
Dubbed the ‘Battlespace Management and Intelligence System’ (BMIS), the space-aged app will also have the power to predict where enemies might launch an assault from and can provide an accelerated strike plan to military planners to combat this.
Created by experts at British defence giant BAE Systems, it’s hoped the system could drastically reduce the traditional time it takes to plan and approve a military strike from ’20 to 30 minutes’ to a matter of seconds.
British soldiers fighting on the ground will soon be testing a new AI app designed to speed up troop’s reaction to an enemy threat (pictured is a soldier from B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, coming under simulated fire in a mock trench during training)
The AI will be able to siphon through all the intelligence gathered from soldiers, satellites and drones to help warn troops of potential enemy threats more rapidly. (Pictured is a fire support commander from 7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, scanning for a target)
The new AI, which is set to be tested by the army in the autumn, will pull together intelligence from satellites, drones and troops on the ground to advice soldiers on what potential tactics they could use (pictured is a British military drone operator)
A defence source told MailOnline: ‘This is going to change the game in the time it takes to make decisions on the battlefield.’
Steve Knight, a former Squadron Leader in the RAF who is a military intelligence specialist, is part of the team helping to create the new app and said it had the potential to revolutionise the army and put the enemy ‘on the back foot’.
‘The problem we’re facing now in the military is the deluge of data,’ he told MailOnline. ‘There’s so much data and intelligence out there and there aren’t enough resources to analyse it all.
‘These ideas we have got will enable us to take all this data and put it into a format that’s usable from a decision-making perspective.
‘If you can speed that system up and provide [soldiers] with an option, then you can outthink the adversary and get on the front foot.’
Steve Knight, a former Squadron Leader in the RAF who is a military intelligence specialist, is part of the team helping to create the new app
Mr Knight, who served 28 years in the air force, added: ‘If you can put your adversary on the backfoot, second-guessing and not really understanding where the threat is going to come from, you gain the upper hand.’
Traditionally, it takes a team of dedicated specialists to sift through all the data from the likes of satellite imagery, military reports, human intelligence sources, and social media to work out where the enemy is and what they might be planning to do.
Then it takes additional time to plan a military attack in response, with much of the intelligence used split into different areas.
What developers hope BMIS will do is to scan through all the intelligence and rapidly ‘paint a bigger picture’ for commanders to ‘accelerate’ how they respond, giving them immediate options on what actions to take.
This would include giving troops choices on what forces could best be deployed to kill the enemy – from drones armed with laser-guided bombs to F-35 stealth jets that can strike positions deep behind enemy lines.
It could also suggest potential safe routes for troops or UAVs to approach an enemy position.
Pictured is an example of how the app keeps troops informed. Highlighted in the top-right shows the potential location of enemy missile, with coloured squares showing the best vantage points and no-go areas. This is used to generate the mission plan for a drone to approach and perform reconnaissance.
A paratrooper from the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, showcased the next generation Light Anti-tank Weapon (NLAW) during Exercise Swift Response on May 7, 2024
The innovation would also work behind the scenes to keep track of ammunition like artillery shells and mortars, and provide suggestions to commanders on different types of weapons could be used to make sure they don’t run out of rounds.
It’s expected the AI will be installed in rugged field computers that will be based at a military HQ. However, soldiers in the field will also be able to use a slimmed down version of the app downloaded onto a phone.
Military intelligence specialists will still play a core role of produced detailed analysis, but the AI app will provide a quick summary to troops on the ground.
But the development is not without its potential drawbacks, both technologically and morally – with questions over whether an artificial intelligence should ever be involved in a process that could lead to human lives being lost.
Rob Merryweather, BAE Systems director of technology, insisted it would always be a human who would ultimately take the final decision.
‘It’s a confidence-based decision aid,’ he said. ‘It’s providing probabilities of what’s happening then options of response. But that decision ultimately lies on the commander on the ground.’
Rob Merryweather, BAE Systems director of technology, insisted it would always be a human who would ultimately take the final decision
Insisting the tech was not going to lead to a Terminator-style AI apocalypse, he added: ‘AI could make a mistake. That’s why there’s always a requirement for responsible human overseeing the decision.’
The app is the latest piece of kit to use artificial intelligence that the UK’s military is using.
In 2021 the army tested a form of AI for the first time during Exercise Spring Storm in Estonia.
Soldiers from the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade used an AI engine which provides information on the surrounding environment and terrain.
Soldiers have given a new scope that uses AI to shoot drones out of the sky, with paratroopers from 16 Air Assault Brigade in Colchester, becoming the first to be issued with SmartShooter SMASH technology this year.
The Ministry of Defence said it gave troops on the ground a ‘high probability’ of shooting down targets.
The SmartShooter used image processing software to detect ‘un-crewed air systems’ in the scope’s field of view, before it targeted, tracked and predicted its movement.
Elsewhere, artificial intelligence is also being used by the Army to speed up recruitment amid fears of the depleted number of military personnel.
MailOnline has approached the MoD for comment.
