Part 6 – Implications for DefenceProtect
Human augmentation technologies will also present new opportunities for increased
survivability. Exoskeletons would allow personnel to wear heavier armour with less impact
on their endurance, speed and manoeuvrability. The treatment of battlefield injuries would
be transformed by enabling more sophisticated medical care to be delivered closer to the
point of wounding. This could include synthetic powdered blood, optimised for battlefield
trauma and stored at room temperature until needed.^46 3D printed tissue and/or organs
could be designed, manufactured and applied further forward in the medical chain with
the help of robotically-assisted surgery or surgeons using telemedicine. Each of these
technologies is in development now and could be realised in the next 20 years.
Today’s rehabilitation tools are likely to be the forerunners of tomorrow’s enhancements.
Advanced prosthetics to rehabilitate wounded personnel represent the cutting edge
of robotics and the latest neurostimulation devices and pharmaceuticals have been
successfully used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Further development of
these treatments will not only enable injured personnel to lead the fullest lives possible, it
could also pave the way for developing future enhancements. Quicker and more effective
rehabilitation will also help Defence organisations hold onto precious and expensive
human talent, but policies will need to evolve to support this, such as permitting an
amputee to serve in front line roles with the use of a prosthetic.
New vulnerabilities. Bioinformatic data, implants and wearables will create vulnerabilities
that could be exploited by malign actors. In a warfighting context, the electromagnetic
signature of powered devices such as exoskeletons and brain interfaces could be easily
detected. Implanted technologies or data-reliant human augmentation could be hacked
or disrupted at a moment of an adversaries choosing. Such vulnerabilities can be
mitigated but will require careful consideration throughout the development process and
may require operators to learn new skills.
Inform
Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) will continue to
be a vital capability.^47 The human-technology interface and the skills of personnel are
key weaknesses in today’s ISTAR enterprise and human augmentation can play a direct
role in improving both. Human augmentation could mean every person is a networked
sensor. At the tactical level, data gathered from augmented personnel could identify
malign electromagnetic activity or triangulate small arms fire instantly sharing the location
of the shooter with the entire network. At a more strategic level, brain interfaces could
more effectively link sensors from satellite to eyeball – to provide an enhanced common
operating picture.
46 Pan, D., et al., (2016), Blood, ‘Erythromer (EM), a Nanoscale Bio-Synthetic Artificial Red Cell: Proof of
Concept and In Vivo Efficacy Results’.
47 See House of Commons Defence Committee, (2010), The contribution of ISTAR to operations 2009-10,
for a summary.