A game changer for France’s military: How AI is transforming the defence industry • FRANCE 24

A game changer for France’s military: How AI is transforming the defence industry • FRANCE 24

[Music] In Britany, Western France, this combat unit from the Second Infantry Regiment of the French Marines is in the final stages of a massive assault training operation that’s been going on for over a month. [Music] After simulating highintensity maritime battles involving more than 20 ships and 40 aircraft, some 3,500 soldiers from nine allied countries landed on the Breton coast. Their mission to help an allied state regain control over territory destabilized by paramilitaries supported by a hostile neighbor which is planning a full-scale invasion. A scenario inspired by the geopolitical situation. And to be as ready as possible to face today’s threats, the army is modernizing. Right. Adrianne Conte’s startup is specialized in artificial intelligence for defense. He’s here to show this unit his algorithm based app. It clearly identifies the white spots as infantry. I think that must be us. Here, we’re going to send a drone on a recon mission to detect and identify both Allied and hostile forces. Our AI automates this process, which reduces the operator’s cognitive workload and helps him understand what’s going on around him. AI software that can detect and stalk threats and potential targets can today be integrated into all kinds of weapons and reconnaissance systems. They can also be programmed to destroy targets autonomously. In Ukraine, whose combat brigades are among Adrian Conte’s clients, robot wars are already a reality. The war in Ukraine has been an accelerator. It’s undeniable. Mainly, I think it has shattered numerous military doctrines that we thought were set in stone. I think it would be dangerous and amount to helping our adversaries if we were to say we don’t want to use this new technology. On the contrary, we have to learn how to use it and clearly determine the limits of its use according to our own values. But to say we don’t want to use it just because there are negative aspects would be a mistake and play into the hands of our enemies. With so much at stake in military AI, France is investing€2 billion euros by 2030 with the aim of becoming the European leader in artificial intelligence for defense. In May last year, it created a ministerial agency for this purpose called AMIAD. With strict control over what we could film, France 24 gained exclusive access to its technical hub. Here, a project called Pandreon is in development to be deployed in 2027. Today, it’s all about collaborative combat. We’re already able to move one robot around by coordinating several robots at the same time to create a combat unit where they talk to each other, conduct a mission, move around together. That’s much more difficult. a troop of AIdriven robots that could be used for all kinds of tasks from reconnaissance to logistics to combat. This technology would not just eliminate the problem of signal jamming but exponentially increase the belligerent capacities. War with less and less human involvement is what we’re witnessing. So the challenge today is how to anticipate it and above all to be able to react with the new situation. To equip its forces as quickly as possible, AMAD is training its own AI models. More than 400 applications are in development with some already operational such as algorithms to aid decision-m for old and new weapons. Proteius is a modernization project for old 20 mm cannons. They were used after the Second World War, but have entirely manual sights. So, it’s very difficult to hit mobile maneuvering targets with them. Here you have a second version which changes some aspects of the cannon and its carrier and involves artificial intelligence to help the shooter. We’re going from approximately zero chance of an old cannon like this one hitting a drone to a very good chance. In fact, it allows us to be pretty sure we’ll hit the target in the end. It’s also a change in the nature of warfare because it’s clear what we’re doing in this particular case can be applied to the whole range of military equipment. We’re doing it and all the other powers are doing it as well. So this actually will determine the nature of warfare in the future. It’s what we’re up against and what we’re in danger of meeting on the battlefield tomorrow. When combat can be outsourced to robot, the risk of abuses and accidents raises the question of what regulation for lethal autonomous weapons is needed. In January, France’s Defense Ethics Committee delivered a consultative report. Today, it is meeting at the request of the Armed Forces Minister to provide recommendations in the event of a major French military engagement. The suggestion is to examine what would be a major engagement with phases of high intensity on the front lines and hybrid threats on national territory. Up until this point, democracies have not waged war against each other. France’s adversaries have always been autocracies or totalitarian regimes. This poses numerous ethical questions, including on the use of autonomous weapons. What seems important to us and the defense ministry and the armed forces share our analysis is to make sure that military commanders can at any moment report on how all this kit, these machines, these platforms are being used. machine platform report to whom? To the chief of the general staff, but also it needs to be to the president. We have already got all the necessary internal laws, penal laws, rules of general discipline for the armed forces and international laws to regulate this. I don’t think we need to be looking at additional legislation. While the United Nations favors a ban on autonomous lethal weapons, France believes that when faced with states that violate international law, it must be prepared to fight with the same armaments.

Artificial intelligence is set to revolutionise warfare. With the help of its algorithms, armies can exponentially increase their capacity for analysis and precision targeting. In military circles, some describe defence AI as a game changer comparable to the invention of the atomic bomb. Between major powers such as the US, China and Russia, an “intelligent arms” race is already on. France, not wishing to be left behind, plans to invest €2 billion in defence AI by 2030. In this exclusive report, FRANCE 24’s Elena Volochine met some of the French forces learning how to use this technology, as well as the engineers developing them and the top officials working on a framework for them to operate in. 
#France #AI #defenceAI

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