Part 6 – Implications for Defence.
Bioinformatics. Bioinformatics will identify an individual’s strengths and weaknesses, and
this is likely to change the way Defence recruits. Genetic profiling is a relatively cheap and
effective way of identifying individual traits and Russia has already announced a plan to
use it for its military personnel.^43 Even basic information, when gathered in large numbers,
could be analysed using artificial intelligence to identify what career fields a recruit is most
suited to.Neural monitoring. Neural monitoring and neurostimulation technologies have the
potential to radically improve training, including specialist areas such as pilot, special
forces or language training. In the short term, neural monitoring could be used to
understand how trainees’ brains are processing their given task, thus providing instructors
with insights to guide student development. In the future, brain interfaces could be used
not just to monitor, but to also enhance training by precisely stimulating the areas of the
brain relevant to the task. Pharmaceuticals and neurostimulation could enhance the skills
of personnel and speed up training, thereby improving their readiness and effectiveness.Unit cohesion. Unit cohesion is founded on social relationships, shared experience
and training – it is a critical part of the willingness to fight. Human augmentation has the
potential to change the foundations of unit cohesion and could, if not handled carefully,
undermine it. For example, differing levels of augmentation within units could introduce
stigma, suspicion or resentment of enhanced personnel.Demobilisation. In addition to preparing personnel for operations they will need to be
prepared for life after the military. For example, the use of invasive human augmentation
may require surgery to remove or downgrade implants that may not be permitted in
civilian life. Reintegration to society could be complicated from a technical perspective
but learning to live without military-grade augmentations could present even bigger mental
health challenges. Preparing to de-augment will be just as important as augmenting
in the first place. Equally, veterans who have benefitted from human augmentation in
Service life may be highly sought after by civilian employers.Project
The ability to deploy force is being increasingly challenged by the proliferation of precision,
long range and more lethal weapons. Part of the solution to this challenge will be lighter,
more mobile and versatile forces, able to operate in a more distributed fashion and greater
use of unmanned systems.^44 Human augmentation will directly support these solutions,
enabling personnel to be more resilient in austere conditions and, through brain interfaces,
increase the combat power they can bring to bear by networking them with autonomous
and unmanned systems. In the longer term, tele-existence may see certain tasks (for
example, trauma surgery and bomb disposal) performed remotely, removing the need to
deploy certain personnel.43 Forbes, (2019), ‘Russia Will Genetically Test Soldiers To Identify The Best Fighters And Thinkers’.
44 The United States Marine Corps, Force Design 2030, 12 March 2020 is an example of this thinking.