„The combat
operations taking place in Ukraine today bear little resemblance to what we saw
in history textbooks. It is not merely a matter of the sheer number of drones
involved. A quiet revolution has occurred: technology has gained such power
that it has completely rewritten the rules of warfare. It is a genuine digital
explosion that has rendered old tactical manuals obsolete.
The most critical
action today is taking place not in the sky, but within chips and
microcircuits.
A modern drone is essentially a flying computer; it
processes information faster than its own rotors spin.
Military
communications have become so digitized that radio waves are now encoded and
transmitted with the clarity of a home printer output. Meanwhile,
reconnaissance has transformed into a massive information-processing factory.
News reports typically focus on missiles and drones, yet
the most crucial element—the software controlling the troops—often remains
behind the scenes. In reality, this entire process functions like an assembly
line, comprising five simple steps.
First: collection. Computers gather all data regarding
the enemy and one’s own troops.
Second: sorting. Streams of information are consolidated
into a coherent picture.
Third: analysis. The software identifies hidden patterns.
Fourth: forecasting. An intelligent system calculates the
adversary's next move.
Fifth: decision-making. The commander receives ready-made
courses of action and issues orders in real time.
Many such
programs have already been developed. The Ukrainian army uses the
"Kropyva" system, while the US military employs the ATAK application.
Russia, too, successfully operates its own digital systems, such as
"Svod."
Interestingly, all these military programs evolved from
civilian technologies. Major banks and Google have been using these very same
information analysis and predictive algorithms for years. Artificial
intelligence was originally created specifically to help businesses manage vast
databases.
If there is no
shortage of capable software and programmers worldwide, what, then, is the main
challenge? The problem is in the data itself.
In the 21st
century, information is the new oil. Crude oil is useless on its own, but once
refined, it becomes valuable gasoline. It is much the same here: chaotic
figures are transformed into pure knowledge through computer processing. Yet,
for the system to function, it requires a constant, uninterrupted stream of
fresh information.
Moreover, modern
intelligence gathering is no longer merely a matter of satellite imagery or
eavesdropping on radio communications. Computers harvest data from the most
unexpected sources: digital payroll records of foreign military personnel,
spikes in mobile phone activity within a specific area, weather forecasts, air
quality sensors, and even surges in gasoline sales at ordinary civilian service
stations.
A smart program
automatically correlates these seemingly minor details to generate an accurate
prediction: where and when the enemy is preparing an offensive.
Many are familiar
with the American company Palantir, which sells its analytics software to the
US and Israeli militaries. Its CEO, Alex Karp, recently made a high-profile
visit to Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Karp is a master
of PR; he knows how to market his product. In reality, there is no magic or
"super-intelligence" involved in his software.
Palantir’s products are actually quite average.
Google—which prefers to operate quietly—possesses algorithms that are vastly
more powerful and efficient. Yet, it was Karp who visited Zelenskyy. Why?
Palantir is in desperate need of new data—that
"informational oil." While Google has access to millions of Android
phones worldwide, Karp has to actively seek out and purchase information.
In this instance,
the Ukrainian leadership acted as the seller. In exchange for publicity and
financial aid, they are willing to hand over the country's entire digital
databases to the Americans. For Karp, this also serves as a way to boost his
company’s stock price by generating high-profile headlines.“
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