AI And Cyber Attacks Will Be Put To The Test By Royal Navy’s Information Warrior 17 Excercise

Artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber attacks will be used in an upcoming Royal Navy military exercise to help ensure it is prepared to combat such threats future warfare might yield.

The training exercise, given the snappy moniker of Information Warrior 17, will test the combat readiness of the Royal Marines, warships and submarines in combating cyber threats that could be used by enemy forces as part of a conflict or crisis situation.

And AI will be put into action to ascertain if it can be used as a ‘mind’ at the centre of a warship to issue commands to a fleets and handle weapons targeting in a speedier and more effective manner, as well as improve the Navy’s strategies for responding to threats

Future warfare

“We are living in a data-driven age in which our adversaries are already exploiting the potential of Information Warfare, and we must respond in kind,” said Admiral Sir Philip Jones, the Navy’s First Sea Lord.

Alongside the use of AI and testing defences against cyber attacks at sea, Information Warrior 17 will also look to tap into drone technology for conducting intelligence and reconnaissance operations on land and at sea and ensuring gathered information is communicated in a manner that facilitates real-time decision making.

Another element of the exercise will be the use of intelligence exploration, whereby the Navy will test how it can use a wealth of information from multiple intelligence sources, including open source intelligence, satellite imagery, and agile search applications, to provide a richer picture of intelligence and reduce the workloads of analysts. The overall goal is to enable commanders to make faster yet more informed decisions before and during operations.

The final piece of the Information Warrior 17 exercise will be to assess how it might build out more streamlines computer systems and integrated infrastructure to enable more efficient operation and the sharing of information between its ships, units and personnel during both peacetime and at times of war.

The exercise will run for two weeks spanning the end or March and the start of April.

The Navy is no stranger to making use of enterprise-grade technology given its most advanced nuclear submarine the HMS Artful makes use of VMWare’s virtualised data centre technology to control is torpedoes.

All aspects of the military machine are becoming increasingly influenced by the latest technology and the skills and approaches it yields, as seen with the US Military and its recruitment of gamers to fly its Predator drones.

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