‘A gift from god’: British troops faster and ‘more lethal’ using AI tech

Soldiers from the 3 Scots battalion were kitted out in full camouflage, face paint, helmets and carrying machine guns as they approached Canadian and Italian forces playing the enemy.

What was less obvious was the AI technology small enough to carry in a small rucksack or clip onto a belt.

But it’s those drones, sensors and even unmanned ground vehicles that have ensured the 3 Scots have successfully neutralised every adversary in Expedition Forest Guardian. “It’s been eye opening just trying out new things, trying modern kit,” Lance Corporal James Bruce told LBC.

“You’d be a lot quicker on your feet with half this kit, just a lot less kit-carrying. You’d be a lot quicker as well on the battlefield. It’s like a gift from god, I would say.”

Using AI, the drones identify where any adversaries are from above, feeding invaluable data back to operational command as well as directly to the soldiers on the ground.

The unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have a wide range of uses. For 3 Scots, who’d likely be on the front line, soldiers were most excited about capabilities to carry supplies over difficult terrain straight to them before returning casualties to medic teams much more efficiently.

“It helps massively,” Private Samuel Stamp said.

“Instead of using six people, or more, to get a man out of the field you can just use one man with a drone.”

The electromagnetic sensors don’t look the most exciting, but are perhaps the most interesting. The small boxes pick up any device transmitting a signal and allow 3 Scots to intercept, confuse or neutralise those devices. In practise, they could uncover the location of an enemy before even a drone could find it.

Like the drones, though, the data can be fed straight to soldiers on the ground. Officers suggested these sensors could make operational planning twice as fast in a conflict scenario.

Many people have fears around the rise of AI. But the commanding officer here believes it can enhance what his troops do. The ability to have boots on the ground will remain,” Lieutenant Colonel Rob Smith told LBC.

“But what we're seeking to do is to maximise the ability of that force, maximise the lethality of that force and the human people in that force and what they can do on an adversary, not replace it.

“We can make decisions far quicker and that situational awareness can be shared far further. Suddenly, we will find ourselves in a position that we can affect a greater area on the battlefield, but also that we can act in a far quicker and more decisive way than our adversaries can.”

Despite just getting their hands on the technology in this expedition, the battalion is already seeing results. “What's been really pleasing to see is to how quickly the Jocks, you know, my soldiers, have been able to pick up these bits of equipment,” the Lieutenant Colonel continued.

“And actually, even for the slightly older generations like me in the battalion, it is relatively intuitive, you know, in terms of the sorts of things that we see on iPhones and other bits of kit and equipment.”

This Joint Expeditionary Force exercise under the NATO umbrella of Operation Tarassis is intended to reassure allies, give troops vital training and act as a deterrent to hostile nations.

Officers on the ground say it also shows the UK has the capability and intention to use our armed forces, when needed.