New AI-Tech will Help Troops Detect Enemies Around the Corner

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Artificial intelligence which scans battlefields for hidden attackers has been successfully trialed by the British Army. The UK-created technology, dubbed SAPIENT, flagged dangers to soldiers as sensors scanned a mock urban battlefield in Montreal, Canada.

The game-changing technology developed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and UK industry partners saw sensors making autonomous decisions, like what and how to monitor activities, as they searched the mock urban battlefield.

With current in-service technology, troops have to man live feeds from systems similar to CCTV cameras to monitor enemy movement during urban operations on complex city streets. The SAPIENT tech takes that load off the soldier and reduces the risk of human error, as well as reducing troops in the operations room – freeing them up for other military activity, according to gov.uk.

UK Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said this new system can act as autonomous eyes in the urban battlefield. This technology can scan streets for enemy movements so troops can be ready for combat with quicker, more reliable information on attackers hiding around the corner. Investing millions in advanced technology like this will give us the edge in future battles.

The tech was put to the test in the Contested Urban Environment experiment (or CUE 18) – the biggest experiment of its kind in recent years, which is also set to come to the streets of Britain. It brings together Five Eyes allied nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and USA to put the very latest cutting-edge technology in the hands of soldiers on the ground.