UK army chief envisages a more ‘lethal and agile’ force
The head of the British army has claimed that in the near future British soldiers will be operating alongside robots as part of a broader transformation of army capabilities and priorities.
General Mark Carleton-Smith, who has been Chief of the General Staff (CGS - the professional head of the army) since June 2018, has given a rare briefing to the media from Dennison Barracks (Berkshire), the headquarters of the 77th Brigade, the army’s information warfare arm.
According to General Carleton-Smith, “human-machine” teaming should be “commonplace” in the army by 2025.
The head of the army strongly hinted at a shift in priorities to embrace more “special operations” and “intelligence capability”.
In addition, Carleton-Smith identified “counter-intelligence”, “information operations” and “unconventional warfare” as high on the priorities list in the army’s imminent structural and operational transformation.
The CGS told the media that the army must be “fit for the demands of the digital age: more lethal, more agile”.
General Carleton-Smith’s rare engagement of the media comes on the heels of similar actions by the heads of different branches of the British military.
Only four days ago the commander of Strategic Command, General Patrick Sanders, boasted of the UK’s advancing offensive capabilities in the cyber warfare domain.
And earlier this month, the head of British military intelligence, Lieutenant-General Jim Hockenhull, called on the government to direct more funding toward emerging specialist areas, such as “artificial intelligence”, “machine learning” and “ground-breaking technologies”.
This intensive engagement of the media – and by extension the wider public - by the heads of the British military – comes ahead of the government’s much-anticipated integrated defense, foreign and security policy review, which is expected to be published in November.
Yemen’s Sa’ada, ‘Amran targeted in fresh US, UK aerial assaults
US, UK warplanes pound Yemeni capital Sana’a, other regions
US, UK strike Yemen’s Hudaydah in support of Israel
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | Nurses protest against Israeli genocide at UN HQ
VIDEO | France-Israel football row
VIDEO | Archbishop of Canterbury quits over handling of abuse by pedo volunteer John Smyth
Hezbollah hits Tel Aviv with ballistic missiles; debuts tactical rocket in anti-Israeli struggle
VIDEO | Iraqi resistance fighters strike ‘vital targets’ across occupied territories
VIDEO | Hezbollah leader to fighters: You are the pride shaking foundations of Zionism
Iran not worried that Trump may toughen oil sanctions: Minister
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
