9th generation warfare

Peace and security are very common words used by humans since ancient times. However, during the course of securing peace and ensuring security, the human race did not care about other humans.

It is a brutal reality that humans ruthlessly kill their fellow beings. They fought wars in the name of peace and did not hesitate to spill blood. Despite all the development and evolution of civilisations, the instinct to fight is still there. The only thing that changed with time was the tools of fighting and killing.

Now, the human race is living in a most sophisticated period of history. They have conquered space, and innovation is the reality of the day.

We have also covered a long distance to learn the benefits of peaceful coexistence. However, the instinct to fight and rule fellow humans is still there. To satisfy this instinct, humans are busy inventing tools of destruction and dominance. With the advent of technology and its use, the world entered into a second generation of warfare.

Technology has changed the dynamics of war. Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth generations have further strengthened the role of technology and change in tactics, strategies and tools. In a nutshell, the world has moved from using humans and horses to modern means of destruction.

Now, countries strive to find superior means of destruction to survive the new age of destruction. In this battle of survival of the fittest, world is now entering into new era. The era of fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth warfare is culminating in the form of 9th generation warfare. This warfare has three characteristics that make it distinctive from the past generations of warfare.

First, it will minimise, if not eliminate, the role of humans to a greater extent. There would be no need for humans to be deployed on the battlefield. The first glimpse of this type of warfare is evident in the form of unmanned UVs.

Humans are involved in executing the plans at this point in time, but artificial intelligence will take over the jobs to fight in the future war. It is anticipated future wars will be run by artificial intelligence and with tools of artificial intelligence.

Presently, humans participate in face-to-face fights or capture land after using air power or precision technology. Although 4th and 5th generation wars have lowered the participation of humans, they still play a major role in the wars. For example, during the application of 4th and 5th generation warfare in the Middle East and Ukraine, humans remained a constant factor in leading and executing the wars. After bombardment of Iraq, it was humans who captured the land.

However, in the ninth-generation warfare, artificial intelligence-based robots can take over the role of humans. Robots can invade a country, or can be used in guerilla warfare. It will give edge to countries with technology to maneuver situations in their favour. Countries can send the robots with an anonymous identity, and no one will be able to trace the origin.

Let’s imagine another scenario: Robots are invading a country. They fight with humans or robots. Countries with better technology can turn robots into double-edge weapons. The robots will be fighting machines. On the other hand, they have stuffed the robots with destructive explosives like nuclear material or other destructive explosive.

Then what would be the choices for the opponents? How will they fight with the explosive-ridden robots? If they try to destroy robots, nuclear explosives will explode, which can cause serious damage. The scenario would be quite scary.

Second, the most developed countries have recently taken war into the outer space. They are putting heavy resources into instigating space race for domination. The race had been accelerated after the establishment of US Space Force.

According to US Vice President Pence, the force was launched with four specific objectives – US Space Command "will establish unified command control for Space Force operations; ensure integration across the military and develop the space war-fighting doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures of the future”.

A military astronaut corps which Pence called "An elite group of joint war fighters specialising in the domain of space” will also be there. Space Development Agency will research and develop new technologies and "ensure cutting-edge war-fighting capabilities”.

New bureaucratic structures will define "clear lines of responsibility and accountability to manage the process of standing up and scaling up the United States Department of the Space Force”.

The US and its allies are enhancing cooperation to dominate outer space. They are portraying China and Russia as a threat to attract public attention, support and financial resources.

They also want to hinder the advancement of other countries in space technology to maintain their hegemony in the application of space technologies. For example, during the Gulf War of 1990s, they used space technologies to outmaneuver their opponents. Since then, they have been working to improve space technology further.

It is anticipated space war will be multifaceted. There will be a race to control or maneuver opponents’ satellites. It will be done to get information or feed disinformation. The possibility of sending arms to space to destroy opponents' satellites is also possible. On the other hand, some countries have also developed capabilities to hit the satellites from the ground.

It has opened a new field of military offence. The use of space technology for war domination created fear in the developing world. They say the leading countries in this field will use space to achieve multiple purposes.

In recent times, we have observed COVID-19 playing havoc with humanity, shaking the whole system of the world. The world came to stand still. Markets were closed and the tourism industry sunk. It has introduced the world to a new danger of biological war. It is considered one of the most lethal forms of war – only one person can paralyse the world and one virus can shut down the whole world with no control.

In the age of communication and connectivity, the spread of the virus can surprise the humans, as happened in the case of COVID-19. Unfortunately, some powerful countries are working to create more biological weapons instead of finding solutions to such problems.

It is assumed US and Russia have more sophisticated facilities. Although, after the signing of the Biological Weapons Convention, both the countries claim their programmes are non-offensive. There are no mechanisms to verify the truth. The debate on biological reignited after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as Russia claimed they had found biological weapons facilities run by the US in Ukraine. However, the US denied and claimed these facilities were only for peaceful purposes.

Against this backdrop, Pakistan has to analyse its status. Where does it stand on all these fronts? Unfortunately, it still struggles to fight or manage fifth-generation warfare, let alone the latest development and future technologies.

Pakistan lags behind in many areas. The most important ones are technology and financial resources. We will have to put much effort into catching up on the latest developments. Pakistan will be in need of huge financial resources to execute the plans and get the desired results. However, the biggest challenge would be in the field of technology.

Right now, Pakistan’s progress in the field of space technology, both soft and hard, is much slower. The problem will be further aggravated in the absence of the required manpower.

Pakistan will have to adopt a stepwise policy to overcome the challenges with focus on creating quality human capital. It should start investing in technology and engage young minds. Innovation should be a key goal, as it is leading modern warfare, and be realistic in analysing our development and status in the modern warfare. Lastly, keeping quiet and moving your hands should be the guiding principle.