How will the meta-verse change the battlefield in the future? (part One)

[The SC]

Not a long time ago, virtual reality and augmented reality became important components of military training in developed countries such as the United States, China, and Russia. For example in the United States. A project called Project BlueShark was created, a project that uses technology that allows sailors to operate ships and collaborate in a virtual environment. In 2014, Project Avenger was launched by the Office of Naval Research and the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. It uses virtual and augmented reality to train pilots for the US Navy. The US Air Force has also used virtual reality to train pilots to fly planes and complete missions. Boeing has also created an augmented reality company that contains technology that allows mechanics to practice aircraft repair before boarding a real plane, and pilots in the United States also use augmented reality glasses such as Microsoft HoloLens for combat training, aerial refueling, formations, and maneuvers. In 2021, the US Air Force held a virtual gathering with nearly 250 participants from countries around the world. The United States and the United Kingdom also cooperated with a private British company working in the field of virtual and augmented reality to create virtual battlefields where 10,000 British soldiers could train simultaneously.

On October 28, 2021, the civil sector around the world heard the term “Metaverse” for the first time after Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would change its name to “Meta” and would begin building a future version of the Internet called “Metaverse.” Let us then discover that the metaverse is not just a technology of Silicon Valley giants, but that it has been used for some time with artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality in the military training of major powers, and that this technology is well known to the American army. The metaverse is a “shared digital world that combines physical, augmented, and virtual reality in real time,” and it is also an environment called “extended reality” in which users may interact with an environment created by computers and other users. In this environment there are stores where you can play games, buy digital goods, go to school, read news, meet new people, learn, craft, train, and travel. In order for this environment to be effective, it requires significant computing power to avoid malfunctions. Current solutions rely on huge numbers of servers or large human teams at great cost. The Metaverse relies on advanced design in virtual reality, augmented reality, and extended reality.

And because the great powers, especially the United States and China, are aware that the environment in which armies operate is changing at a rapid pace, and that the multipolar threats that are spreading rapidly and increasingly mean that tomorrow’s battlefield will be more ferocious, malicious, and cruel than ever before. With the need to operate in new ways to combat the emergence of new environments and new threats, comes the need to train tomorrow's armies in new ways as well. Therefore, many countries have adopted military research to create metaverse technology, using private companies and research centers to possess all the technologies related to the efficiency of this technology, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D simulation, head-mounted displays, and virtual environments that operate with artificial intelligence. These countries have used metaverse technologies in many magazines related to military matters. For example, because training is one of the most important components of battlefield effectiveness, metaverse technology has been used in military training fields, in which many layers of simulation are brought together, such as terrain, satellite networks, and Internet devices. Objects and human behavior, as well as the scene, can be modified on a large scale without the need for exposure to risks. The logistical and practical challenges associated with large-scale training situations can also be solved. It can also be deployed on a large scale, as well as synchronizing training in more than one unit or weapon. This enables military planners to simulate tactical and operational combat methods guided by artificial intelligence, and thus provides them with important insights, which helps in understanding weak points and the solutions required for them. It will also provide valuable study materials by integrating experimental tools, techniques, and personal data, in addition to military training in the worlds of the metaverse. It will reduce training costs significantly.

The most dangerous thing is that the metaverse could be alternative battlefields, as the Chinese People's Liberation Army is preparing to wage a high-tech war in the metaverse. The People's Liberation Army envisions a future battlefield for advanced conflict in the metaverse. China defines cognitive warfare as blending unmanned systems with artificial intelligence to produce new combat capabilities. According to PLA Daily, the metaverse represents “the new frontiers of the future cognitive war.” These include drone swarms, electronic warfare, hypersonic missiles, self-healing platforms, biomaterial-filled invisibility cloaks, and 3D-printed payloads and parts. The US Army also considers the metaverse a top priority. The US Army announced in 2018 that it would spend up to $22 billion on the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), a version of Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality system for the soldier of the future. Doug Philippon, global defense leader at Palantir, said in more than one interview, “The metaverse is not only the future of military training, but it is also the future of how the military fights and makes decisions.” Elmer Francisco, CEO of the VetCoin Foundation, also told The Sun that the metaverse is the next evolutionary step in weapons after drones. According to Josh Bowman, a US Air Force expert who examines all aviation and space operations in Asian countries, China and India have joined the list of countries looking into the possibilities of the metaverse to be alternative battlefields in the future.

In the second part of this article, we will present how this will happen, and what is the role of this dangerous technology in changing the form of future wars!


Mr. Dr. Ghada Mohammed Amer
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering - Misr University of Science and Technology
Fellow and lecturer at the Defense College - Military Academy for Postgraduate and Strategic Studies

Metaverse technology battlefield