There is much enthusiasm among military planners these days for tapping into the innovations of the commercial sector. That’s fine up to a point, but a wholesale adoption of commercial technology without due consideration to dangers could lead to operational disaster. For instance, China’s military undoubtedly has a detailed understanding of how to intercept, jam and degrade commercial satcom signals. To take another example, the program office managing a recompete of the production contract for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is signaling interest in commercial driver-assist technology. It better be prepared to do some extensive testing, because off-the-shelf tech isn’t likely to offer the reliability, sustainability and security necessary to prevail in modern combat. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.
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