THE INFLUENCE OF DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES ON THE PREPARATION OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY AND OF THE TERRITORY FOR DEFENSE
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International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION
Vol. XXVII No 1 2021
THE INFLUENCE OF DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES ON THE PREPARATION
OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY AND OF THE TERRITORY FOR DEFENSE
Gabriel MĂNESCU, Sebastian-Emanuel STAN
”Nicolae Bălcescu” Land Forces Academy, Sibiu, Romania
manescug@yahoo.com, sebastian.stan@armyacademy.ro
Abstract: The paper reviews the main factors relevant to the preparation of the economy and
territory for defense as well as the main developments of military applications of disruptive
technologies. The brief presentation of some of these technologies, as well as the exemplification with
certain data regarding their use, come to outline the need to constantly adapt defense policies to the
new trends in this field.
Keywords: disruptive technologies, defence policy, economical power, military power
1. Introduction As a component of national security, the
Preparing the territory to ensure the preparation of the economy and territory for
conditions necessary to defend its integrity defense is based on the provisions of the
in time of war is not a novel issue. The Constitution, laws and documents on
experience of the wars has shown that, national defense planning and, last but not
since ancient times, there have been least, the obligations that our country has
concerns about the material resources assumed through international treaties and
needed to sustain military conflicts, that agreements. According to Art.2 of Law no.
they should be accumulated in time and 477/2003 on the preparation of the national
preserved on the territory, in districts hard economy and the territory for defense, “the
to reach for the enemy, near likely areas of preparation of the national economy and
fighting. Thus, in the feudal era, on the the territory for defense includes the set of
territory of our homeland, the necessary measures and actions that are established
means for defense against invaders were and carried out in peacetime, in order to
kept in fortresses usually built near the use the economic and human potential of
country’s borders, which played a special the country, fin order to address the needs
role in the great anti-Ottoman battles of defense and ensure the continuity of
carried out under the leadership of the economic and social activities in case of
brilliant voivodes Mircea cel Bătrân, Stefan mobilization or war”[1].
cel Mare, Mihai Viteazul and others,
serving as strongholds in the fight to defend 2. Organization and Preparation of the
the territorial integrity and the national Territory for Defense Needs
existence of our people and aimed to From the point of view of the conditions for
preserve weapons, ammunition, food, defense, the land presents extremely varied
medicine and other means necessary for conditions, from the natural obstacles,
popular resistance. formed by the hydrographic network,
DOI: 10.2478/kbo-2021-0031
© 2015. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 License.
204orographic barriers, and forested lands and From the point of view of natural
up to anthropic buildings with exclusive conditions, the axiom remains that the
destination. heavily rugged and forested lands are easier
Natural conditions can be favorable or to defend, even with reduced forces in the
restrictive factors in terms of defense needs. face of a formidable enemy.
The organization and preparation of the The case of the harassment of German
territory for defense is conditioned by three troops in the former Yugoslav space by J.B.
essential factories, namely: Tito during World War II is one of the most
natural conditions; eloquent examples of efficient land use.
the state and economic structure of a Extreme climatic conditions are established
territory and the infrastructural as repulsive and hostile factors for invading
conditions; troops. In parallel with the weakening of
the evolution of fighting technique and the fighting potential, the Russian winter
defense policy. was a reliable ally in stopping the German
It is well-known that intramountaneous invasion of Moscow during World War II.
territories, accessible by peaks or passes, American soldiers during the Vietnam War
can be more easily defended by the had an additional enemy in the high
punctual and safe nature of the placement temperature and humidity and the
of roads from a possible invasion. unstoppable invasions of mosquitoes.
Defending passes has always been a In the current situation of Romanian army’s
priority in state defense policy. Invasion involvement on the anti-terrorist front in
troops can be caught in ambushes, and a Afghanistan or the establishment of calm
small number of attack forces can and reconstruction of Iraq, the soldiers
completely decimate the troops and the complain mostly not about the perfidy and
invasion technique. strength of the enemy, but more often about
Water crossings, with low banks and the unbearable heat and desert dust.
shallow waters, are speculated for the The economy of the states is dualistic, in
crossing of troops and combat equipment. the sense that it satisfies both civil needs
That is why, as a rule, such points are par excellence, but also military needs.
strongly defended. During wars, a large part of the productive
The forested territories are formidable forces are converted to support the war (the
shelters for manpower and fighting transition from production for civilian
equipment. The organization of the defense needs to military production). In many
in a forested field is favored by the cases, no distinction can be made between
possibilities of masking and sheltering the civilian and military production (e.g. food
troops and fighting equipment and by the industry, textile industry, etc.).
obstacle posed by the tree trunks in the way The territorial concentration of the
of motorized means of combat and population, of production and their
ammunition. supporting infrastructures (railroads, roads,
The forest offers the most effective means canals, channels, airports, lines for the
of masking troops in advancing and transportation of electricity, gas and oil
retreating actions, in parallel with sheltering main avenues, water accumulations, etc.) is
then in the dark of night. also a factor of remarkable territorial
Numerous examples are known from the strength and a vulnerability factor that
time of the second world conflagration, requires additional and diversified defense
when whole units in daytime marches were measures.
decimated by machine guns from low- Logically, strong and modern economies
altitude aircraft. allocate more substantial funds for defense.
The more advanced the economy, the more
205sophisticated, diversified and effective the transforming disruptive technologies into
fighting technique. Strong economies military capabilities will provoke a
support warring states more effectively. paradigm shift in international relations
Anthropic structures support the defense and security studies” [3].
needs from the perspective of their Military specialists and politico-military
destination, type and the materials from analysts are united in the belief that the
which they are built. most important military technologies with
disruptive potential are biotechnology,
3. Disruptive technologies artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons
The concept of disruption is not a new one, systems, hypersonic weapons, directed
being initially characteristic of the field of energy weapons and quantum technology.
electrical engineering. Harvard professor Of course, some of these, for example
Clayton Christensen widely publicized the biotechnologies, artificial intelligence and
disruptive potential and especially that of quantum technology, can in many cases be
disruptive innovation in his book The of the dual-use type, but in this paper we
Innovator’s Dillemma, published more than aimed to highlight only their military
two decades ago, in which he describes aspects.
disruption as “a new concept radically Biotechnology is “the field which exploits
changing the foundation of competition in biological sciences in order to develop new
an industry” [2]. According to Christensen, technologies, some with very serious
there are two main types of technological implications for national security” [4].
innovations: sustainable and disruptive. If the general public agrees with these and
Sustainable innovations are introduced to is aware of the benefits of this technology
maintain a direction of past performance, in various fields, the recent pandemic crisis
preferred by most consumers. In contrast, generated by the SARS-Cov 2 virus, comes
disruptive innovations introduce a to overshadow and ridicule the results of
different value proposition on the market, decades of research. And this is due to the
even if the product's performance is lower, failure of any organization / state to assume
at least on short term. the factors that led to its emergence, the
As expected, the concept of disruption was lack of transparency and procrastination in
quickly assimilated into almost all sectors communicating the results of investigations,
of economic, social, political and military the delayed or disproportionate response of
life. state institutions and, last but not least,
Precisely due to the ability to manifest in moral aspects / ethics.
various fields of activity and to the impact Certainly, one of the best known areas with
they entail, disruptive technologies are the disruptive potential is that of artificial
subject of studies and analyzes of intelligence (AI) which can be defined as "a
institutions involved in their development machine capable of imitating the cognitive
or which have identified direct / indirect functions which we conventionally
threats. associate with humans and create human-
The disruptive military technology is “an level knowledge" [5]. AI is used at a large-
improved or completely new technology scale, with military applications, such as
which is capable of fundamentally changing C4ISR, cyber operations, military logistics
the traditional models of security and systems, semi-autonomous and autonomous
defence. The impact of these technologies weapons systems, etc. Lately we have
will be in the necessity to redefine classic witnessed an unprecedented development of
security strategies, modify military the phenomenon called "deep fake", based
doctrines, adapt operational context or on AI and which has the ability to replicate
even the logic of war. Furthermore, in "target environments" and which has the
206role of providing a distorted picture of with the aim of inducing strong perceptions
reality in order to undermine trust in the with potential for a credible distortion of
state authorities in charge of ensuring the objectivity needed in major decision
defense and national security of the other moments.
areas vital for the survival of the state. Of A practical example, which combines the
course, this phenomenon is not new either, potential of AI with the development of
but the approach and the channels through flight systems, is that of drones, which are
which it is achieved is novel, the ability to able to take certain decisions independently.
bypass the established filters is innovative, Their evolution is shown in figure no. 1.
Figure 1: Brief history of UAV’s development [6]
In support of the above, we must specify nautical miles and, especially that there
that relatively recent facts come to illustrate have been no reports of ships that raise
the capabilities of UAVs. In July 2019, suspicions about capabilities to use these
several US Navy destroyers were systems in the area.
maneuvering when, during the night, The autonomous lethal weapons will be “a
swarms of small drones harassed military category of weapons systems which can
ships. The event was not a singular one, as identify, engage and destroy targets without
such events were reported and recorded in human intervention. In the configuration of
the ship's logs and in the following nights. such weapons we find advanced
What US military officials consider calculations, analysis and decisions systems;
worrying is the fact that the presence of sensors which can observe, identify and
these UAVs has been reported at great classify an object as hostile, as well as target
distances from the shore, at over 160 guidance equipment. Their autonomy will
207allow them to operate in difficult We consider that for our investigative
environments for long-distance approach, the presentation of these
communication, command and control capabilities of disruptive technologies are
means” [7]. Although these systems are more than eloquent. As new information on
highly desirable by the armed forces, the development of these technologies
fortunately they have not yet been equipped becomes available, we will be able to make
with them, due to concerns about their much more detailed predictions about the
control or more specifically whether the configuration of possible conflicts.
systems will be able to provide sufficient
credible guarantees that they will comply 4. Conclusions
with the rules of engagement in combat and We are witnessing unprecedented
with the laws of war that apply to the people. technological developments that
Some of the most current weapons systems significantly influence every aspect of life.
with disruptive potential are hypersonic If we refer strictly to the military aspects,
weapons. The fierce competition between the implementation of new technologies,
Russia, the USA and China for supremacy especially the disruptive ones, we notice
in this field is well known, the first of these that they can influence / change not only the
states having, according to some military physiognomy of future conflicts, but also
analysts, at least two years ahead of their the current power relations. Investing in
competitors. These systems will be able to state-of-the-art technologies can bring
carry explosive charges, including nuclear, double benefits. On the one hand, the
with speeds up to five times the speed of economy of the states will benefit because
sound and at distances of 2-3000 km, all production processes / systems will
depending on their launch system, which benefit from the advantages offered by AI
gives them a high degree of protection by increasing efficiency and productivity
against interception and, at the same time, and by becoming sustainable. On the other
an increased probability of hitting the hand, as economic power increases, so does
target. “Russia has stated that its Kh-47M2 the military power of the state. From this
Kinzhal is a hypersonic missile which has a article it can be deduced with certainty that
range of 3,000 km, also taking into account the first two factors that influence the
the flight autonomy of its carrier aircraft, if defense potential of a state are canceled by
it is launched from the supersonic Tu-22M3 the development of new weapons systems
bomber, and 2,000 km if its launched from that incorporate different disruptive
a MiG-31K fighter jet, the configuration on technologies. Of course, politico-military
which the first tests took place. Among the decision-makers will take into account the
missile’s potential targets are static or influences of new technologies in
mobile objectives, either terrestrial or developing defense policies that best
naval” [8]. correspond to the legitimate interests of the
state.
References List
[1] http://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/47873
[2] Christensen, C. The Innovator’s Dillemma, Harvard Business School Press, Boston,
Massachusetts, 1997Surname Initial(s). Book title. Edition - if available. Place:
Publisher; Year.
[3] Iancu, I. The new dictionary of defence: disruptive technologies, Defence & Security
Monitor, 2019. Available from:https://en.monitorulapararii.ro/the-new-dictionary-of-
defence-disruptive-technologies-1-23277
[4] Idem
208[5] Idem
[6] Badea, D., Mănescu, G., Iancu, D., Bucoveţchi, O., Dinicu, A. “Civilian – military
interferences in the management of research for the security and defense field”, The 9th
International Conference on Manufacturing Science and Education - MSE 2019, Sibiu,
June 5 – 7, 2019, Romania, DOI: 10.1051/matecconf /20192901 MSE 2019 13001 3001
[7] Iancu, I. Op. cit.
[8] Idem
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