When Google unveiled its latest prototype of a self-driving car in May, it marked a new stage in the relationship between humans and autonomous vehicles in a very public way. But it is just one visible piece of the technical progress in areas such as autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, and in the thinking on how humans will interact with these new technologies in the future as they become universal.
Then there is the wider effort in government labs and industry that are looking to harness these innovations for military applications. These technologies are looking to support our warfighters, whether it is by providing them with greater situational awareness through information systems, reducing the weight that soldiers have to carry on their backs (or provide them a mechanical mule), or providing them with greater protection to help make them more effective overall.
All these advanced technologies were on display at the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conference and exhibition, the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC), and during a visit to several technology companies and research laboratories in Boston last month.
What was clear from the mix of innovative capabilities on display—many of which were British—is that there is a lot of potential for good work to be done through international collaboration. We are already seeing this play out and more in ways that play to the UK and US’s respective strengths in technology and innovation. What is also visible is that there are differences in the two countries’ approaches, whether these are in the civil regulation of unmanned vehicle use and testing, or in the ways that our militaries scout for new, cutting edge technology. But we ought to be able to turn these differences into opportunities to learn from each other.
The same goes for the industrial capabilities that we rely on to deliver equipment to the front line. As our two countries contend with the world post-major conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, governments are thinking about the kinds of military capabilities that the future will require of us while contending with constrained budgets. Industry will also respond to these demands on what future military capability looks like as well, and has in fact already started to.
With reduced defence budgets, industrial capacity in many areas will need to shrink in line with declining demand. Yet, there comes the challenge of doing so without losing the ability to regenerate in the future, should demand surge once more. This is why we see the US invest heavily, despite constrained finances, in research and development on future capabilities. It keeps the innovation active and supports science, technology and engineering skills where they are most needed so that industrial capability is maintained.
This is nonetheless expensive and carries considerable opportunity cost that can be minimised by leveraging the investment that partner nations, such as the UK, are making or have already made in key technologies, products and industrial capabilities. The US and UK have done this in the past, and the pressure is on to get it right once more. This may feel like a problem for industry to figure out, and in much of the detail it is, but there is a role for governments to play though our procurement strategies, the standards that we apply, and the degree of openness to foreign participation – all of which can militate against achieving the best ratio of cost-to-capability available through collaboration.
For now, there is still work for governments and industry to do in these areas to secure the best future outcomes for UK-US defence. But overall, the snazzy technologies on display at the trade exhibitions make the future feel rather close, and the opportunities are there for the taking.