Defence technology in 2021: our predictions
Harry Lye
and
Berenice Baker
21 December 2020 (Last Updated December 17th, 2020 10:48)
Despite a challenging year, investment in defence innovations has continued to thrive and programmes long in the pipeline have seen full deployment, potentially changing the face of future warfare. Berenice Healey and Harry Lye examine how the technology themes that have dominated 2020 might progress into next year.
We admit it: previous Global Defence Technology end-of-year prediction articles have been a bit hit or miss, forecasting as they have a military year filled with railguns, lasers, exoskeletons and AI weapons. If there’s one thing we’ve learnt, it’s that the near future will be shaped more closely by what’s happened during the previous year rather than lofty sci-fi ideas.
With that in mind, this year we examine some key themes and projects we’ve seen emerge during 2020 and round up expert opinion on how they will develop throughout 2021. We look at whether optionally crewed systems will be the tactical and financial solution they’ve been pitched as, what the Biden administration means for the New START nuclear treaty, how the military Internet of Things (IoT) is poised to dominate, whether cyber in space is the new hybrid domain, and how interoperability will shake up armed forces’ strategy.
https://www.army-technology.com/features/defence-technology-in-2021-our-predictions/
