In our latest episode of Lexicon, we sat down with Will Ashford-Brown, Director of Strategic Insights at Heligan Group, to discuss a compelling vision of what modern conflict looks like and what it’s becoming.
In a world where emerging technologies are redefining both warfare and peacekeeping, Will Ashford-Brown offers a clear-eyed view of how artificial intelligence (AI), electronic warfare (EW), and autonomy are rapidly transforming the defense landscape.
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“We’ve seen a real step change over the last half decade.”
Ashford-Brown began by emphasizing the scale of transformation in just five years. “If you look five years ago, there wasn’t widespread use of AI in military operations that we see now,” he said.
“It’s being used in all manner of applications — from document summarization to automatic frequency hopping for jammers, which are often used in counter-drone functions,” he added.
He described how AI is now embedded across both combat and support functions, not only for target acquisition and drone piloting in denied environments, but also in the back office. “We even have chatbots used within the Ministry of Defence that help minimize the burden on IT support functions,” he added.
But the implications are far from mundane.
Human in the loop; at least for now
One of the episode’s most interesting topics was the ethics of autonomy in warfare. Asked whether AI might one day control lethal force, Ashford-Brown explained that “as it stands now, there is a human in the loop for operations where you have the use of kinetic force… and I see that remaining for the foreseeable future.”
There are moral and ethical implications of removing humans completely from that loop. Who’s going to take accountability when the machine makes a mistake and kills an innocent civilian?” he added.
The trust gap, he argued, is still vast. “We don’t fully trust these machines to do life-critical actions — like making the decision to drop artillery shells on a grid square. AI still has a long way to go before we can put full trust in it,” he explained.
Autonomy and AI
Autonomy and AI are often treated interchangeably, but Ashford-Brown made an important distinction. “To get to real autonomy, we need really robust AI systems,” he explained. “AI is a critical supporting function to get us to true autonomous systems,” he added.
He pointed to experimental drones using computer vision and AI to pilot themselves and select targets. “The development of this tech will allow combatants to overcome jamming effects in denied environments,” he noted.
Still, he emphasized that even in autonomous systems, human intent remains central. “There’s always someone telling it to do something — and observing the results,” he said. “Someone is always on hand to correct the machine when it goes wrong,” he added.
The death of invisibility
Ashford-Brown turned next to how AI and satellite intelligence are reshaping the battlespace. “It’s just getting harder to hide military units on the ground,” he said.
While satellite imagery isn’t new, the game-changer is AI’s ability to process it. “What would’ve taken an analyst hours, probably days, AI can now process in seconds — identifying tanks, personnel, or even track marks running into woodland,” he explained.
The implications are immense. “A kill chain that used to take hours can now be compressed to minutes,” he explained. “That means quicker decisions, but also greater responsibility,” he added.
He also drew attention to the electromagnetic spectrum as a modern battlefield: “Everything’s connected now — radios, drones, targeting systems — they’re all talking to each other, giving off unique signatures. And that makes them targets.”
The rise of this “Battlefield Internet of Things,” as he called it, has opened up new vulnerabilities. “If the enemy detects your radio transmission, they can pinpoint your tank. That’s where electronic warfare really comes into play,” he explained.
A fragile advantage
The interview highlighted just how delicate modern military superiority can be. “If you sever an army’s ability to communicate with headquarters, you essentially cut off the head of the snake,” Ashford-Brown warned.
“They can’t receive orders. They can’t report live intelligence. You’ve paralyzed the force,” he told us.
And while Western militaries are investing heavily in making communications more robust, he acknowledged the threat is evolving fast. “There are real vulnerabilities,” he said. “We need to protect our systems better — and that need is only growing,” he added.
Leveraging civilian tech
Ashford-Brown also acknowledged an uncomfortable truth: “Civilian tech is outpacing defense.” He explained that military hesitancy stems from the “no-fail nature” of operations. “These are life and death situations. We can’t afford to roll out untested tech,” he said.
Procurement cycles also slow adoption. “Typical defense procurement is in the decade-order of magnitude,” he said. “It’s inflexible, and that holds us back,” he added.
Yet he remains optimistic. “We’re trying to address that. The UK’s defense industrial strategy goes some way to speeding up those cycles. We’re playing catch-up, but we’re getting there,” he explained.
Asymmetric warfare
One of the most sobering parts of the interview came when Ashford-Brown spoke about how accessible high-impact tech has become.
“Autonomous technology and cyber capabilities have been commoditized,” he said. “You don’t need to be a state actor anymore. Even individuals with malign intentions can have a disproportionate effect,” he told us.
He pointed to the widespread use of drone swarms in Ukraine. “They’re saying that 75% of all combat losses in the conflict are a result of drone attacks,” he said.
“And these drones can be cheap, off-the-shelf FPV models — the size of your hand — that overwhelm defenses,” he added.
Countermeasures, he noted, are currently far more expensive than the threat. “If you’re firing a million-pound missile to take out a $200 drone, the enemy’s already won.”
The British Army, he shared, is experimenting with microwave-based systems and electronic jamming. “We need affordable ways to counter affordable threats,” he said.
Toward smarter systems
Looking to the future, Ashford-Brown highlighted the development of smart jamming technology. “Traditional jammers are dumb — they just blast a set frequency,” he explained.
“But we’re working on systems that can sense, detect, and classify signals as friend or foe — then jam only the hostile ones, even as they hop frequencies,” he added.
AI will be crucial in making these systems fast and effective. “It’s about speeding up decision-making, helping commanders stay ahead of the enemy’s OODA loop,” he said.
As the conversation drew to a close, Ashford-Brown offered a final reflection: “We may look at missile technology, F-35s, and tanks — but without effective communication, none of it works. If you press the button and the command doesn’t reach the weapon, it won’t fire.”
For Ashford-Brown, the battlefield of the future is one we won’t always see. “The electromagnetic spectrum is the new front line,” he said. “And the war is already being fought,” he explained.
