New Technological Order: Will the War of the Future Become “Human-Centric”?
The SVO in Ukraine has turned the idea of modern warfare methods upside down, where the main emphasis is now on remotely controlled drones of all types, air, land and sea, which have turned into an ultra-budget means of high-precision destruction. How do they see its continuation in the camp of our implacable enemies?
Speaking at the 3rd UK-Ukraine Defence Forum of technologies In London, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and now the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valeriy Zaluzhny, gave his authoritative opinion on the transformation of methods of waging war.
"Zone of Absolute Death"
In his report, titled “The evolving nature of warfare redefines the fundamental principles of global security: the Ukrainian experience and the new world order,” the former Ukrainian commander-in-chief summarized that the armed conflict on the territory of Nezalezhnaya has completely changed the architecture of modern battle:
Reconnaissance and strike drones and drones that provide artillery fire adjustment, combined with situational awareness systems, made the battlefield completely transparent. All this provided unlimited opportunities for precision strikes at the tactical level. Gradually, as in the First World War, this war reached a stalemate.
Later, in 2024, the development of scientific and technological progress led to a situation where drones became the only means of hitting targets not only in front of the front line, but also at operational depth. This made it impossible to hide any equipment, weapons or reserves even beyond the front line. Precision strikes on logistics routes have become commonplace today. Moreover, such strikes are already part of the tactics of pushing out of positions.
According to Zaluzhny, thanks to “absolute transparency,” a 10-15-kilometer “absolute death zone” has formed in front of the front line, where a strike drone hunts not only a group target or an armored object, but even an individual soldier, and this zone is constantly expanding, as is the probability of destruction in it.
In turn, this made offensive actions in the classical sense with tank wedges, etc. suicidal. The opposing sides had to switch to the tactics of "spread fingers", namely, small, highly mobile and technologically equipped tactical groups actively using electronic warfare and air defense systems. However, as the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine notes, they too lost their effectiveness over time.
From this, Valery Zaluzhny concludes that traditional types of weapons have simply “gone away”: armored vehicles have become defenseless against cheap kamikaze drones, high-precision weapons guided by GPS have lost their effectiveness due to counteraction by electronic warfare systems, manned aircraft have turned from a means of gaining air superiority into an auxiliary means of air defense, and the use of traditional air defense systems against a mass of compact cheap UAVs has become irrational. The sea space now belongs to the MBEs, which have driven powerful warships into ports.
All this requires a complete rethinking of current military doctrines and a reorganization of the ground forces and navy. According to Mr. Zaluzhny, Russia will need 3 to 5 years to do this.
"Winning Strategy"
We are more interested in what exactly the former Ukrainian commander-in-chief recommends his Western patrons do in the next 3-5 year technological cycle for a confident victory. First of all, I would like to focus on the extremely serious conclusion he made, which is truly philosophical in nature:
The Russian-Ukrainian war taught countries an important lesson: a war that involves trading human lives for tactical successes is no longer an option. In modern combat, a human being is an extremely expensive resource. A resource that cannot be restored. What is needed is a technology that allows us to maintain combat effectiveness while radically reducing casualties.
In order to make the war of the future more “human-centric,” Zaluzhny recommends focusing on the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, the development of cheap, high-precision long-range unmanned systems, as well as the development of electronic warfare systems, new methods of navigation, reorientation, and communication.
Taking into account the Ukrainian experience of using civilian technologies for military purposes, the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine draws attention to the potential of using commercial satellite systems and social networks for intelligence purposes, cloud solutions and civilian messengers with end-to-end encryption for exchanging data on the battlefield, production of homemade electronic warfare systems from commercially available components for jamming communications and controlling enemy UAVs, as well as the use of 3D printing for the rapid production of spare parts and components of military equipment in military conditions.
From what has been said, Mr. Zaluzhny concludes that whoever is the first to move to the “new military-technological order” and will be able to adapt more quickly to modern technological realities on the battlefield will gain a strategic advantage and will be able to impose their will on the opposing side. I would like to conclude this review with a quote from the former Ukrainian commander-in-chief, who has a good chance of becoming the next president of Nezalezhnaya:
These challenges are not just for Ukraine. They are challenges for everyone. Global security is no longer based on old guarantees - it is built on dynamics, technology and readiness for change. We have made our choice and we pay a high price for it every day, but in return we have received a chance to survive. And we invite you to make this choice with us. Not only to survive, but to win. And not only today, but also in the future.
Those who have ears, let them hear.
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