The Study of Artificial Intelligence in Modern Defence System

Abstract

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in modern defence has transformed the landscape of military operations, intelligence, and strategic decision-making. This review synthesizes findings from thirty-seven recent research papers that explore AI applications across domains such as surveillance, autonomous systems, cyber defence, logistics, and ethical governance. Studies highlight AI’s role in enhancing situational awareness through satellite and sensor fusion, improving decision-support via predictive analytics, and enabling autonomy in unmanned aerial and ground vehicles. Research further emphasizes advances in military logistics optimization, AI-driven wargaming, and natural language models for multilingual intelligence analysis. At the same time, concerns over adversarial attacks, bias, explainability, and the ethical use of AI in lethal autonomous weapon systems remain critical challenges. Policy-focused works underscore the necessity of human-in-the-loop frameworks and international governance mechanisms to ensure responsible deployment. Collectively, the literature demonstrates that while AI offers unprecedented opportunities to strengthen defence capabilities, its adoption must be balanced with ethical safeguards, interoperability standards, and robust oversight to maintain security, accountability, and global stability.

Introduction

Modern warfare is rapidly evolving with asymmetric threats, cyberattacks, drone swarms, and complex battlefields, rendering traditional military methods inadequate. AI bridges this gap by enabling:

• Real-time data analysis

• Predictive threat assessment

• Autonomous system capabilities

Nations are investing heavily in AI-driven defence technologies to maintain strategic superiority and adapt to the dynamic global security environment.

2. Definition of AI in Defence

AI in defence refers to the integration of intelligent systems—including machine learning, NLP, robotics, and autonomous platforms—into military operations to:

• Support or enhance human decision-making

• Operate in uncertain and adversarial environments

• Learn and adapt over time for continuous improvement

Key applications include automated surveillance, intelligence analysis, predictive maintenance, and autonomous weapons.

3. Importance of AI in Defence

AI is critical for:

• Situational awareness: Fusing multi-source data for fast, accurate decisions

• Cybersecurity and mission planning

• Optimizing logistics and resources

• Supporting autonomous systems like drones and robotic platforms

Strategically, AI acts as a force multiplier, enhancing combat effectiveness while raising ethical, governance, and human control concerns.

4. Global Investment & Adoption Trends (2025 Estimates)

• Global defence AI market: ~$15–20 billion (2025), projected CAGR of 19–20% through 2030

• Largest investment areas: ISR, cyber defence, autonomous systems

5. Literature Review Highlights

A. Technical & Operational Insights

• SAR ATR & Domain Shift (Li et al., 2023): Emphasizes need for explainability, uncertainty estimation, and real-world benchmark datasets.

• Sensor Fusion for UGVs (Beycimen et al., 2023): Addresses terrain adaptability, simulation-to-reality gap, and cross-domain generalization.

• UAV Autonomy & Swarming (Pal et al., 2024): Highlights robustness, GPS-denied operations, and ethical export concerns.

• Mission Planning & Legacy Integration (Tafur et al., 2025): Notes gains in automation, challenges in system certification and safety.

• Multi-UAV Networking (Shah et al., 2024): Discusses RL & federated learning, spectrum allocation, and resilience against jamming.

B. AI in Cybersecurity

• Malware & Intrusion Detection (Kaur et al., 2023): Addresses adversarial ML risks and need for explainable cyber tools.

• Dual-Use Risks (Brundage et al., 2022): Explores AI misuse for misinformation, cyberattacks, and bio-threats; suggests global cooperation.

C. AI & Ethics in Warfare

• Legal & Ethical Use of AI (Nadibaidze et al., 2024): Stresses transparency, auditability, and human control over lethal decisions.

• Moral Responsibility Chains (McNeish et al., 2023): Analyzes AI delegation in kinetic decisions and ethical oversight mechanisms.

D. Data & Model Robustness

• MiniSAR & ATR (Lv et al., 2024): Focus on robust recognition under occlusion, multi-view learning, and uncertainty calibration.

• Few-Shot Learning for SAR (Zhou et al., 2024): Introduces evidential deep learning to flag uncertain cases and reduce false alarms.

E. Policy & Governance

• NATO’s Responsible AI Guidelines (White & Garcia, 2025): Pushes for standardization, transparency, and allied interoperability.

• International Oversight: Emphasis on governance frameworks and AI safety protocols in defence contexts.

6. Key Themes & Challenges

? Benefits of AI in Defence

• Improved decision-making speed and accuracy

• Enhanced situational awareness and battlefield autonomy

• More efficient logistics, maintenance, and ISR

?? Challenges & Risks

• Model bias, adversarial attacks, and data scarcity

• Ethical dilemmas in lethal autonomy and targeting

• Lack of explainability in critical systems

• Interoperability issues across allied forces

• Slow integration with legacy military systems

Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence has emerged as a transformative force in the defence sector, reshaping how militaries conduct surveillance, process intelligence, and execute complex missions. By enabling real-time data analysis, predictive modelling, and autonomous decision-making, AI provides unprecedented capabilities that strengthen national security and operational efficiency. The review of existing research highlights that AI is not limited to a single application but spans diverse domains, including cyber defence, logistics, autonomous systems, and strategic wargaming. These advancements demonstrate that AI is not merely an auxiliary tool but a core enabler of next-generation defence systems, essential for countering evolving threats in a highly dynamic security environment. However, the adoption of AI in defence also raises significant challenges related to ethics, accountability, transparency, and international governance. Issues such as the risk of autonomous lethal weapons, susceptibility to adversarial attacks, and potential misuse demand careful oversight and regulation. To fully harness the benefits of AI, defence organizations must adopt human-in-the-loop frameworks, establish global norms for responsible use, and invest in explainable AI to build trust and reliability. In essence, while AI offers immense opportunities to revolutionize modern defence, its true impact will depend on the balance between technological innovation and the establishment of ethical and legal safeguards that ensure its application enhances security without undermining humanitarian values.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Dr. Goldi Soni, Ayush Dewangan, Sanyyam Doye. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.