The technical breakthroughs following the information revolution have substantially contributed to the improvement of weapon systems and platforms: precision-guided missiles, drones, long-range surveillance systems, etc. Despite the upgrading of his equipment, the soldier could become the weak link of military organisations, which are increasingly interconnected and rely on dehumanised tools. However, innovations resulting from the NBIC revolution (nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science) have led to the development of new perspectives on the soldier as well as on his operational and technical environment. Whereas the operator used to have his weapons adapted to him, he nowadays needs to adapt himself to his armament. Defining the “soldier of the future” has become a primary concern for most military organisations in industrialised countries. In 2017, the United States spent 2,97 billion dollars only on DARPA (acronym for “Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency”) for research on the augmented soldier. And this is only a tiny fraction of the investments made by the United States Armed Forces through a complex architecture of various centres and laboratories.

As a result, over the last 20 years, many NATO and non-NATO countries have launched numerous projects aiming at increasing the combatant’s physical abilities, mainly by means of metabolic engineering and the optimisation of physiological and neurological functions. Military equipment is also the subject of extensive research. Various programmes are aiming to reduce the weight of the soldier’s equipment during operations, to design robots that will supply him with food and ammunition, or even to provide him with advanced means of interconnection.

In order to discuss the approaches to these various programmes, as well as to put them in the context of the complex operational realities that militaries may experience during missions, Duncan Stewart (QinetiQ UK), PhD, agreed to debate with us on both his knowledge of the projects and field experience.

This conference will take place on Thursday 20 September 2018 at 17:00 hours in the conference centre of the Campus Renaissance (entrance: rue Hobbema 8, 1000 Brussels). The lecture will be given in English with simultaneous translation into French and Dutch. Parking is available on the Cinquantenaire esplanade in front of the Royal Museum of Armed Forces and Military History. We are looking forward to welcoming you and kindly ask you to confirm your participation by registering online on the RHID website: www.rhid.be.

Pre-registration is mandatory to access the premises and must reach us not later than Monday 17 September 2018.

 

 

 

Programme:

16.30 u                               :           Welcome

17.00 u                               :           Conference and Q&A

18.30 u - 19.30 u           :           Reception