The escalation of current conflicts serves as justification for an unprecedented increase in technological military spending. Drone programs, cybersecurity, and anti-aircraft systems are sold as urgent responses to the battlefield. However, these developments are not consumable; once created, they integrate into the permanent arsenal, altering the global strategic balance in the long term beyond the initial crisis.
Development of Drone Swarms and Electronic Warfare 🤖
The investment focuses on autonomous and low-cost systems. Drone swarms, with mesh communication and decentralized decision-making algorithms, aim to saturate defenses. In parallel, advances are made in electronic warfare: suppression systems (SEAD) to blind radars and cyberattack platforms to disable critical infrastructure. This technology, tested in conflict, is refined and scaled, creating lasting offensive and defensive capabilities.
From temporary solution to collection of eternal toys 💸
It's the classic I rent it for a weekend and end up buying it applied to geopolitics. We justify the kamikaze drone for a specific trench, but in the end the factory keeps producing and the tactical manual expands for creative uses in peacetime. In a decade, we'll see those same systems in deterrence exercises, as very expensive reminders that what is deployed for a war is rarely stored away in the attic afterward.