Future Combat Unit - Operational and Technological Primer

An important task in the FFI Project 1579 “Future Combat Unit” is to define future organization and operational concept at the lower tactical level. The time scope is 2035-40 and beyond. Important premises are available technology and the overall threat picture. Any answer will be subject to great uncertainty, and limiting the problem to something that can be analyzed in a meaningful way, is a challenge, since the context is so important. In large we assume that the military hierarchy brigade, battalion, company, and platoon will persist. It is important to question military “truths”, in order to reveal which of them build purely on tradition and which are more durable, i.e. less dependent on technology level and the threat picture. Because available technology is an important premise, also for the threat picture, some key technologies, being potential “game changers”, are discussed. First of these is autonomy/ unmanned systems, for a large part building on artificial intelligence. Unmanned/ autonomous platforms open for many new possibilities, whether we are talking about drones, UGV’s or remotely controlled or autonomous combat or other utility vehicles. MUM-T, that is teaming manned-unmanned platforms, is part of this picture. For instance, we see extensive use of drones in the war in Ukraine. Other key technologies are communication technologies (including defence against jamming and other countermeasures), technologies for better situational awareness, like sensor technologies (including drones used as elevated, extended sensors) and Augmented Reality (AR). These technologies also enable better coordination/collaboration between systems and military units. Among key weapon technologies are long-range precision guided missiles, hypersonic missiles and Directed Energy Weapons. Two key technologies for improved ballistic protection of systems/vehicles are Active Protection Systems (APS) and Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA). Likewise, a potential enemy will, of course, exploit new technology for own benefit. Whether we, everything considered, will be better or worse off than we are today, depends on who is the better and faster in exploiting this technology. It is also important to bear in mind that new technology not only enables us to improve the way we are doing things today, but also opens for entirely new and better ways of doing things. The report discusses briefly to what extent and in which ways new technology and changes in the threat picture may affect organisation of military forces and the way they fight. The fact that new technology enables better interaction and collaboration between military platforms and units, is a crucial factor that is emphasized. Our continued work in this field will penetrate deeper into this matter in an endeavour to provide more concrete and substantial conclusions and recommendations.