If you look across publications (commercial and academic whitepapers) for the defense industry, there seems to be an increase in the number of pieces about the battlefield of the future. There are quite a few good reasons behind this increased attention. It has become all too evident that it is nearly impossible, and for that matter impractical, to both maintain the current defense technology posture that has been accurately described as dominantly reactive and remain secure. The industry must increase their research and development efforts on the battlefield of the future. Consider all the current research and development efforts around production and management of micro-robot swarms. In order to protect the nation, we need to be proactive — move to a real-time-enough model where the capabilities to address near-term conflicts are available ahead of the actual real-world need. I firmly believe that is a tall order, and I am not the only one that feels that way — I assure you.
When you examine recent discussions and war games based on potential future conflicts, the role of “identities” becomes very interesting. They also appear to be very challenging as well. One of the more interesting applications comes from the increasing use of military battlefield robots that augment human capabilities and replace humans that are put in harm’s way in time of conflict. There are literally dozens of battlefield robot applications in various stages of development. That adds credence to one forecast that puts a value of this market at more than $21 billion by 2020. That is a compound annual growth rate of over 9 percent.
Intel
In early 2016, multiple accounts surfaced stating that Russia’s military researchers were working to quickly introduce battlefield robots that have the ability to act independently.
All those robots with different capabilities and rapidly changing locations and operational status create a complex management challenge. Put all of that together and it adds up to an ideal application for an identity management application. Who says that identities are only for human warriors? Actual robots that could rescue wounded soldiers still in the line of fire, robots armed with assault weapon-style firepower, robots with the ability to clear buildings, and robots that can locate, defuse or detonate IEDs are just a few of the many applications that come to mind. All of these capabilities require management.
Identity management will be part of the C4ISR-based robot warrior. Each robot will have its own identity that keeps track of location, operational assignment, arms onboard, current assignment and human controllers(s). That is an ideal application for identity management. Now let’s take that to the next level and add augmented virtual reality to the list of battlefield robot capabilities and you begin to get a picture of what is likely in the next few years. You have to wonder if these type applications are included in the current forecasts for identity management solutions. One of those forecasts projected that the identity management solutions market will grow at an astonishing compound annual growth rate of 26.8 percent in the next few years.
In January 2016, the World Economic Forum asked a couple of interesting questions: Would you rather send humans or machines to fight in a war? And would you rather be attacked by a human or a robot?
While some think this was years, possibly decades away, it looks to be much closer. It appears that the overall battlefield robot marketplace is only constrained by our creativity, innovative thinking and our willingness to move in this highly controversial direction. Some are quick to point out that all of this seems to violate the first of the Three Laws of Robotics: “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” Of course they are referring to the work of science fiction author Isaac Asimov — his short-story “Runaround,” — in which he decries the three laws taken from the “Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.”
Battlefield of the future: identities
