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Tomorrow’s wars will not be fought with mushroom clouds, but with devastating cyberattacks unleashed by “quantum computers,” experts have predicted.
Former soldiers and intelligence agents revealed this ominous future to DailyMail.com, highlighting how technological breakthroughs will change warfare.
These range from quantum computers that are millions of times more powerful than the machines used today to robotic exoskeletons, which will give soldiers superhuman strength, and AI-controlled drones that will kill without human intervention.
Using these predictions, DailyMail.com asked the AI image generator Midjourney to take pictures of the future of the battlefield and the technologies that will make it a reality.
AR gives soldiers superhuman senses
Augmented reality will provide soldiers and pilots with ‘superhuman’ senses
Virtual reality and augmented reality allow soldiers to “see” through drones or robotic vehicles, with augmented reality “heads-up displays” (HUDs) overlapping the view of pilots and soldiers.
Adam Seamons, Information Security Manager, GRC International Group, said: Technologies such as VR have been used for many years to train both military and commercial pilots, along with other expensive hardware such as armored vehicles and tanks.
Another more modern use would be manned drone training.
“With the combination of VR training and AR HUDs for drone pilots, these systems will undoubtedly become essential for both training and operation of military systems in the future.
Much of this technology will be enabled by satellites in low-Earth orbit, which provide high-speed internet connections to the battlefield, said Chris Moore, Air Vice-Marshal (retired) and vice president of Defense & Security for satellite internet company, OneWeb.
“LEO space-based SATCOM will become a major driver of many new technological advancements – such as AR, VR and robotics – that will ultimately increase lethality through more effective and efficient use of force.”
Quantum computers can crash the banking system with the push of a button
Quantum computers are a new arms race by launching cyber attacks that can destroy power grids and banking systems
New “quantum computers” could enable devastating attacks that could cripple energy networks and the global banking system, warns Andersen Cheng, founder and executive chairman of Post-Quantum.
Instead of ones and zeros, quantum computers use qubits that can be both at the same time, enabling unprecedented computational power
Security researchers fear that the power of quantum computers could break public key encryption (PKI).
This technology has been used to secure information in everything from banks to the military.
Quantum computers are now in development, with IBM showing models with more than 400 qubits.
“Quantum computers will be millions of times faster than ‘classical computers’, thanks to the fact that they use ‘qubits’ that can be one, zero or both at the same time,” Cheng said.
“This exponential improvement means that one day we will see a leap in quantum technology and we need to be ready before it happens rather than reacting afterwards. In addition, this is only a review of publicly available information.
“A secret quantum arms race is taking place whose exact status we do not know.
“If a sufficiently powerful computer is up and running, we won’t see mushroom clouds on the horizon, but should expect attacks that affect everything from our energy infrastructure to financial institutions.
Cheng says groups seemingly associated with China and Russia are already stealing encrypted information to be decrypted once a sufficiently powerful computer is up and running.
Cheng said, “Any data that may still be sensitive 5-15 years from now and that is not protected by quantum-safe standards may already be at risk.”
AI will control completely pilotless fighters
Artificial intelligence will pilot deadly unmanned aerial vehicles that can go rogue, making them unstoppable by human commands
According to former MI6 agent and author Carlton King, artificial intelligence will control unmanned attack aircraft.
The benefits of using machine learning to control attack craft will be very tempting to military leaders.
‘The moment you start teaching an independent robot machine learning, you start to lose control. There will be the temptation to say, “Let a robot do it all,” King said.
King also said pilots in the US and Britain are currently flying drone planes, but military leaders may be tempted to take humans out of the equation.
“Obviously there will be a movement to take that pilot off the ground because their reactions may not be fast enough, and put that in the hands of an artificial intelligence, those reactions are much faster. and make that decision: shoot or don’t shoot,” he continued.
Biotechnology and nanotechnology will ‘upgrade’ soldiers
Nanotechnology could be used to ‘upgrade’ soldiers in the future, turning them into unstoppable killing machines
Soldiers of the future could be enhanced through biotechnology or even nanotechnology, with the technologies enabling soldiers to survive injuries on the battlefield, said Pablo Ballarin Usieto, a cybersecurity consultant and member of ISACA’s Emerging Trends Working Group:
Biotechnology and nanotechnology offer opportunities for developing enhanced soldier performance, improved battlefield medical care, and possibly even new types of weapons.
Usieto said, “Emerging technologies are already involved in how wars are fought, but they can significantly impact current conflicts in several ways. All of these examples raise different concerns, whether ethical, legal or humanitarian.
“It is important to ensure they are designed and operated to minimize harm to civilians and adhere to international humanitarian laws and standards.”
Robot exoskeletons will fight alongside androids
Human soldiers may also have access to nearly indestructible exoskeletons that act as body armor
Soldiers will use robotic exoskeletons in addition to fully autonomous combat drones, Usieto continued.
General Robert Cone predicted that a quarter of US troops would be robotic by 2030, making the military smaller, more lethal, more deployable and more agile.
“The use of robots and autonomous systems (unmanned ground vehicles, robotic exoskeletons and even autonomous combat systems) in warfare can reduce risks to human soldiers and increase capabilities on the battlefield,” said Usieto.