Hir’aeth: The Australian Army, Training, and the Nostalgia of the Past
Reading Time: 5 minutes Editor’s Note: This is Grounded Curiosity’s 2nd most read article of all time. One of the most useful phrases to emerge from […]
Category: Future
Fighting Artificial Intelligence Battles in the Land Domain
Reading Time: 5 minutes In January the Australian Defence College published a paper by Dr Peter Layton under the title “Fighting Artificial Intelligence Battles: Operational Concepts […]
Goodhart’s Law: Why the future of conflict will not be data-driven
Reading Time: 5 minutes Data is the future. Few tropes receive more uncritical acceptance. Pick any rubric of military assessment– take PMESII (political, military, economic, social, […]
The Importance of Remote Autonomous Systems for the Future of the ADF
Reading Time: 5 minutes In his speech for the launch of the 2020 Defence Strategic Update, Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed to the audience: “We must […]
Book Review – T-minus AI
Reading Time: 3 minutes Michael Kanaan’s “T-Minus AI” is written for a national security-focused crowd that often hears about Artificial Intelligence (AI) but doesn’t really know […]
Mars 2020 and the Profession of Arms
Reading Time: 3 minutes July 30 saw the launch of the Mars 2020 mission, the latest to the Red Planet. The mission aims to explore the […]
Warfighting Health Effect in 2040
Reading Time: 4 minutes Private Richard Alexander “Dick” Henderson MM was forever immortalised in the now famous painting by Horace Moore, which shows a stretcher bearer […]
The Future of Unconventional Warfare (2035 – 2050)
Reading Time: 3 minutes Women in Future Operations Holds Its First Working Group What do you see when you conceptualise the future of unconventional warfare? What […]
Automation and Civilians in Conflict
Reading Time: 4 minutes Every conflict in human history has been accompanied by a wave of non-combatant suffering. The proliferation of militarised autonomous systems in this […]
What can the military learn from uberisation and the gig economy?
Reading Time: 4 minutes In his book A History of Warfare, John Keegan wrote of the relationship between warfare and society: “both worlds change over time, and the warrior […]
Are automated weapons the next tank?
Reading Time: 3 minutes In December 1918, General Sir Douglas Haig wrote that tanks “are incapable of effective independent action. They do not in themselves possess the power […]
Human Enhancement and the Cyborg Combatant
Reading Time: 4 minutes Humans have always sought to enhance themselves. The history of humanity is a story of that pursuit for greater improvement and ultimately, […]
The Genetically Engineered War
Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s a new frontier of science that is having far reaching implications for the world. Gene editing, more commonly known by its new […]
The Future of Drugs in War
Reading Time: 5 minutes Drugs have a long history in war. In fact, drugs and war may have always existed together in some form, leading Wes […]
An Interview with Robin Smith: Robotic and Autonomous Systems
Reading Time: 3 minutes Samuel Cox (SC): Can you give readers the elevator pitch for the Australian Army’s Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Strategy? Robin Smith (RS): The RAS […]
An Interview with Scott Holmes: Human-Machine Teaming
Reading Time: 4 minutes Samuel Cox (SC): Can you give readers the bottom line up front (BLUF) about the Soldier Combat System Program and the Australian […]
An Interview with Lyndal Thompson: MakerSpace for the Australian Army
Reading Time: 3 minutes Samuel Cox (SC): What is a MakerSpace? What activities occur? What problem is it intended to solve? Lyndal Thompson (LT): MakerSpace has come […]
Soldiers build drone from flat-pack to flight-ready
Reading Time: 4 minutes On 27 November 2019, several Australian Army soldiers gathered in Melbourne the day after a Defence Innovation Hub Phase , Unmanned Aerial […]
Evergreen
Reading Time: 17 minutes 20 0145 APR 2030NATO Training CentreUndisclosed Location To: Jackson Randolf, Col. (Ret.)From: Everyn Randolf, 2nd Lt.Subject: Evergreen How the hell did you do […]
Wrap-Up: Science Fiction and Future of War Seminar 2019
Reading Time: 4 minutes Military history is often seen as the go-to resource for military professionals to learn about and understand their trade. It is full […]
Tactical Fighting System: Section Contact Narrative, Part 2
Reading Time: 19 minutes This narrative is designed to explore the difference that robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomy and augmented reality spatial computing could achieve with technologies […]
Tactical Fighting System: Section Contact Narrative, Part 1
Reading Time: 8 minutes This narrative is designed to explore the difference that robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomy and augmented reality spatial computing could achieve with technologies […]
Beyond The Multi-Domain Model
Reading Time: 6 minutes Western militaries are struggling to comprehend how to effectively manage the rapidly changing character of contemporary warfare because the multi-domain model used […]
One Rogue Whale: A Lesson in Unconventional Thinking
Reading Time: 2 minutes A beluga whale approached a Norwegian fishing boat in late April of this year wearing a harness with ‘Equipment of St Petersburg’ […]
Virtual Command Part 3 – Hostages
Reading Time: 7 minutes What follows is Part 3 in the fictitious future warfare serial ‘Virtual Command’ from Australia’s newest professional military education platform The Strategic […]
Virtual Command Part 2 – Boots on the Ground
Reading Time: 7 minutes What follows is Part 2 in the fictitious future warfare serial ‘Virtual Command’ from Australia’s newest professional military education platform The Strategic […]
The Rise of Cyber and the Changing Nature of War
Reading Time: 5 minutes “The nature of war is changing, so you don’t have to have two tanks shooting at each other to call it war. […]
Battleship Redux: An Ironclads Inflection & ‘Dronenaught’ Class Warships
Reading Time: 8 minutes History’s first duel between ironclad warships during the American Civil War ushered in the beginning of a new era of naval warfare In […]
Blood Moon Rising: Militarisation Of Cis-Lunar Space
Reading Time: 6 minutes Cis-lunar space and militarisation of the Moon is the impending next chapter in an evolving astrostrategic contest for dominance of space beyond geostationary […]
Dronekrieg
Reading Time: 6 minutes ‘This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.’ – Alan Turing […]
Getting the Future Wrong: How Science Fiction Can Help Anyone Prepare for the Future
Reading Time: 3 minutes All methodologies fail at prediction but they also can all produce relevant future scenarios that will keep your mind adaptive and your organization better prepared for any surprising future that might arise. It is okay to get the future wrong. Just do it a hundred different ways.
Leonidas’ Legacy: A Matter of Missiles vs Manoeuvre
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘Our archers are so numerous, said the envoy, that the flight of their arrows darkens the Sun. So much the better, replied King Leonidas, […]
Meet “Carl”: Australia’s Future Soldier
Reading Time: 3 minutes A visit to Integrated Personnel Protection Group, DST We see a lot of sketches, concepts and science-fiction about tomorrow’s soldier – but […]
Unpopular Ideas From Across the Ditch, Part 2: Cheat Codes for Innovation (and why they don’t work)
Reading Time: 5 minutes This series is based on lessons learned from leading innovation in the New Zealand Army and New Zealand Defence Force. Up, up, […]
#LOGBOTs – Making Army logistics “hard to find, hard to hit and hard to kill”
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Infantry wants to “fight light” – what’s holding them back? Manned resupply, and convoy movements, says Jacob Choi, former Combat Service […]
Shades of Grozny: Anti-Tank Drones and the Yom Kippur Effect
Reading Time: 8 minutes ‘Don’t shoot till you see the glint of their electro-optic sensors‘ Armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) designers employ a multilayered systems approach to […]
Military Experimentation Part II: Continuous War-Gaming
Reading Time: 5 minutes This article is the second in a two part series that seeks to generate discussion and debate on military experimentation. Part 2, […]
Inclusive Innovation
Reading Time: 6 minutes The sweeping effects of the fourth industrial revolution are readily evident in the exponential increase of emergent and disruptive technologies becoming commercially […]
The Future is Now: A Path Forward in Manned-Unmanned Teaming
Reading Time: 5 minutes The future of Australian Army Aviation lies in its ability to successfully integrate manned and unmanned aerial vehicles in the tactical and […]
Tactical Satellite Launch: Enabling Autonomous Futures & Expeditionary Ambitions
Reading Time: 7 minutes ‘However beautiful the strategy, one should occasionally look at the results’[1] Great power competition and not the fight against terrorism is now […]
Musings on the prominence of Informational Effects in the Operational Art
Reading Time: 8 minutes In a time of increasing emphasis on the information domain, perhaps the words ‘See first, understand first, disseminate decisively’ offer a mantra […]
Directed Energy Weapons: A Defence Against Emerging Threats
Reading Time: 4 minutes The technological advantage currently enjoyed by western militaries will likely decline in the near future as the spread of information and goods […]
New Super Weapons – Changing the Status Quo
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Russian President recently announced a number of high-tech weapons during his annual address to the nation. Using a combination of speed, delivery methods and size, […]
Part III: Leading a Culture of Innovation
Reading Time: 4 minutes Often when the topic of creating a culture of innovation arises, the discussion seems to focus on running activities such as “hack-a-thons”, […]
Part II: Leading Innovation
Reading Time: 4 minutes There is a profound difference between being an ‘innovative leader’ and being a ‘leader of innovation’. Whereas an innovative leader will drive […]
Mission Command Algorithms: An Evolution of Artificial Intelligence & Combat Leadership
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘There is no reason to believe that leadership will be spared the impact of Artificial Intelligence’ Anyone in the military who has served […]
Deception, Diversion & Disguise (3D): Amphibious Operations Success in the Third Decade
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘Be mysterious to the point of soundlessness, then be the director of your opponents fate’ An Australian Amphibious Task Group (ATG) assembled […]
Part I: Innovative Leadership
Reading Time: 4 minutes Innovation is the key to success in modern military operations, thus it is imperative that the military commander be innovative if they […]
When Radio Silence is Not Enough: Signature Suppression & the Fight for Surprise
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘The next fight will be a battle of signatures. Assume everything we do can and will be observed. We are going to […]
Imagining the Future – Global Security in the Age of Autonomous Machines
Reading Time: 16 minutes FOREWORD Clare O’Neill 2017 It can be a difficult and daunting activity to visualise the future operating environment when there are a myriad of different […]
The Perils of Centralising Defence Innovation (and how to overcome them)
Reading Time: 4 minutes As innovation gains momentum throughout defense forces, a common theme seems to be emerging. Militaries, in particular Western ones, are increasingly seeking […]
Data Driven Decision Making – Embracing Technology to Clear the Fog
Reading Time: 3 minutes Imagine being able to predict enemy patrol and aerial surveillance routes with a high degree of certainty, or an increasing vehicle availability […]
Future Thinking – Crowdsourcing for Defence
Reading Time: 4 minutes Innovation has always been a factor of military thinking to one degree or another, however in recent years it has been gathering […]
Exploring Social Media’s Influence During Conflict and Crisis
Reading Time: 17 minutes “I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither […]
Taking A Step Forward On Drones
Reading Time: 4 minutes Last week two French soldiers were wounded and two Kurdish fighters were killed in Iraq by a weaponised Commercial off the Shelf […]
Future Thinking – Adaptive Tanking
Reading Time: 6 minutes The evolution of Russian armoured combat power since 1991 […]
Future Thinking – Cyberspace: A Contested Domain
Reading Time: 4 minutes Australia and Australians are targets for malicious actors—including serious and organised criminal syndicates and foreign adversaries—who are all using cyberspace to further […]
Future Thinking – Recruiting the Uniformed Cyberwarrior
Reading Time: 3 minutes The recently released 2016 Defence White Paper prescribed a re-balancing of 1200 Australian Public Service positions to be generated to support growth […]
Future Thinking – Attrition and the Next Air Defence Battle
Reading Time: 7 minutes The forces that we prepare today will be the forces that we take into the battle tomorrow. For the Air Defence capability, […]
Future Thinking – Space Culture: What do we need for the Future Fight?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Space is a domain that is increasingly contested, congested and competitive. As the cost and technical barriers to space diminish, the range […]
Innovation Toolbox – Innovation: Why do we need it in the military? (Part 1 of 3)
Reading Time: 4 minutes The idea was fantastically, wildly improbable. But like most fantastically, wildly improbable ideas it was at least as worthy of consideration as […]
Cauldron of Complexity – Are germs the next #FutureFight?
Reading Time: 3 minutes As I cough and sniffle, suffering the effects of a Canberra winter, I remember that germs have two effects on us. First, […]
How do you see the #FutureFight?
Reading Time: < 1 minute The next conflicts will be won by intelligent people with the courage to challenge our current thinking and outlooks. This foundation of innovative people […]
Fiction vs History: Enduring Features of the Future Fight
Reading Time: 3 minutes A properly schooled officer never arrives on a battlefield for the first time, even if he has never actually trod the ground, if that […]