28 September 2026

Not Only Robots: Warfare Will Still Need Humans

Real Clear Defense | Boaz Golany

Military forces are rapidly integrating artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to perform reconnaissance, strike missions, and intelligence analysis while reducing battlefield casualties. Advanced drones, autonomous boats, and ground robots now operate across active conflict zones in Ukraine and the Middle East, driven by technological leaps and public reluctance to accept military losses.

However, complex environments and ethical dilemmas ensure human soldiers remain indispensable. While space and air warfare increasingly rely on automation for high-speed data processing and swarm management, dense urban terrain, subterranean networks, and ambiguous civilian-combatant dynamics continue to reward human adaptability and moral judgment. Future force design will focus on human-machine teaming rather than total replacement. Ground warfare in particular remains hostile to autonomous systems due to degraded navigation signals and unpredictable obstacles. Ultimately, military effectiveness depends on integrating intelligent machines with personnel capable of exercising contextual awareness and legal accountability in life-and-death situations.

Comment

The operational integration of autonomous swarms into aerial and naval domains accelerates the compression of decision cycles beyond human reaction thresholds. Yet, dense urban environments degrade satellite-navigation signals and disrupt communications links, exposing the fragility of remote command architectures during close combat.

During counter-tunnel operations in subterranean networks, communications blockages consistently force decentralised tactical units to rely on organic intuition rather than networked sensor feeds. This friction preserves the operational utility of human infantry despite rapid advances in machine learning.

Strategic Question for Discussion
How do ground forces maintain tactical tempo in subterranean networks and dense urban environments when satellite-navigation signals and remote communications links are systematically jammed or unavailable?
The pattern suggests that tactical formations must revert to pre-digital decentralised command structures and rigid mission-type tactics. This operational reality points toward a persistent friction ceiling for autonomous systems in complex terrain.
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