I built response capacities to NATO incidents before becoming a CEO CEO. My company becomes the new defense sector
In the era of decentralized war, conflicts are no longer linked by geography. A drone launched from a garage, or a line of malicious code can strike as hard as a missile, although it can be deployed far from all conventional front lines. Nation states must now defend themselves everywhere, and critical infrastructure has become good and really a major target.
While the face of war completely changes, Western governments must adapt to follow, reassess what constitutes a “defense” and prioritize the importance of cybersecurity innovation. At the top of NATO earlier this summer, the Alliance took an essential first step towards the construction of this modern defense landscape. He agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP and reiterated the commitments of article 5 of NATO members.
While the United States is pushing the United Kingdom and Europe towards autonomy, the imperative for defense investment is clear. Defense Innovation went from a marginal problem to an existential question, and the last review of the United Kingdom was a clear sign that its importance is finally properly recognized. But there is no longer to do.
The evolution of war
The war is increasingly decentralized and focused on technology, marking the greatest change of conflict since the advent of the flight. This decentralization means that the front lines and the battlefields no longer exist in the same way, and that conflicts are not limited to physical kinetic combat. Instead, cyber attacks and sabotage have become standard elements of state conflicts.
Ukrainian officials report that Russian cyber attacks have increased spectacularly since the invasion, with around 70% more attacks in 2024 than the previous year. These are not blind attacks either; More than half have targeted government systems, with a radically increased share targeting military command and control infrastructure.
This threat also exists beyond active warzones. The critical national infrastructure is targeted in Western nations by various cybercriminal and hacktivist groups, as well as state actors. Tactics have transcended low-level websites and data theft and now extend to more destructive attacks against systems such as energy networks, gas pipelines and submarine cables. Given that an attack on servers or sub-states can be as devastating as an attack with shells and missiles, any effective defense strategy must now treat digital threats with the same level of gravity as physical threats.
AI and autonomy on the battlefield
In addition to this cyber war, there was also a rapid progression of AI and autonomous systems on the battlefield. Robotic drones and platforms are increasingly controlled by AI, which allows them to recognize, identify targets and attack without direct human control. Russia and Ukraine have invested massively in these capacities, effectively inaugurating a new era of partially autonomous fighting. This type of “autonomy at the edge”, where human surveillance is minimal once a system is unleashed, marks a qualitative change in war. Although it certainly raises difficult ethical and security questions, militarily, it offers a speed and a surprise that traditional remote -controlled weapons simply cannot correspond.
Take for example the innovative use of drones through Ukraine. Its forces have repeatedly reached Russian territory, using cheap drones swarms instead of hunting jets or cruising missiles. In March, he launched his strongest attack ever made, sending 343 drones to the Moscow region, forcing the closure of the four airports in the Russian capital. In June, its “Spiderweb” operation saw more than 100 drones deployed deeply in Russian territory, hitting air bases up to 4,500 km from the border.
The devastating power of these relatively inexpensive driving vehicles (UAU) reshapes war tactics. Spider strikes have been described as a “low -cost precision striking operation”, demonstrating how a nation without long -range missiles can still inflict serious strategic losses.
There is also a sinister side to this revolution. Each of these cheap UAVs, and in fact any device connected to the Internet, is a target for cyber war. This has another opportunity to hack and deactivate or reuse, instantly transforming an asset into vulnerability.
The very forces of autonomous weapons – that they are inexpensive, evolving and effective – will also make the tools of choice for thugs states or terrorist actors. Many existing defenses, such as airport security control points or traditional anti -aircraft systems, are poorly suited to this threat, forcing protection strategies for public sites and critical infrastructure.
A defense industry for the future
NATO recognizes that it is at the dawn of a moment in the watershed and that it is in a race against time to adapt to a constantly evolving threat landscape. Military force is no longer defined only by the number of tanks or troops, but by technology, agility and resilience.
The United Kingdom, for example, has set up joint working groups between the army and the industry to tighten energy infrastructure and invest in rapid catering capacities for communication networks. This vagueness of what is “defense” is important because the potential attack surface becomes both global and digital. We must now also consider resilience throughout the economy in the context of our broader defense strategy.
The age of decentralized and hybrid war requires a more agile and innovative Western response. The increase in military and defense budgets to include the protection of cyber and infrastructure is a good start. Lining on technological innovation and promoting closer collaboration in the industry would be an excellent next step.
The opinions expressed in the Fortune.com comments are only the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
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