DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY

 

 

INSS research focuses on the following disruptive technologies that enhance warfighter capabilities, readiness, and survivability; and which are being employed to shape the future operational environment and character of warfare. Biotechnology and biomanufacturing enable rapid production of critical supplies, and afford warfighters optimized capability to function in a range of operational settings and battlescapes. Directed energy systems provide precision responses to counter emerging threats of drones, hypersonic missiles, and adversaries use of advanced surveillance methods. Artificial intelligence integrates and enables use of vast data to improve information acquisition, analyses operational and decision-making. Autonomous systems extend operational reach and increase force capability and economy while reducing risk to personnel; and quantum technologies afford unprecedented sensing, communication, and computing capabilities to maximize mission effectiveness in contested environments. Together, these innovations fortify the joint warfighter, reduce vulnerabilities, enhance mission effectiveness, and provide decisive advantage in modern and future warfare.

Research and Commentary

A Green Beret assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) calibrates an unmanned aerial system during Next Generational Command and Control (NGC2) training support of Ivy Sting IV at Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado Feb. 4, 2026. The training enhanced Special Operations Forces integration into NGC2 systems alongside 4th Infantry Division to improve mission command capabilities and interoperability in large-scale combat operations. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Christian Dela Cruz)
Precision in Words, Precision in Warfare: Terminology and Control in Military Discourse on Unmanned Systems
By Dr. Elise Annett, John Bitterman, and Dr. James Giordano | March 11, 2026
Unmanned vehicular systems (UVS) spanning aerial, maritime, terrestrial, and sub-surface domains have become integral to intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), logistics, strike operations, and electronic warfare. Yet despite the increasing ubiquity and sophistication of these technologies, discourse surrounding their capabilities can be undermined by imprecise terminology that conflates the terms automatic, remote, and autonomous in policy, technical, operational, strategic and policy briefings and planning.

Dr. Giordano joins NATDEF, a podcast hosted by NDU's College of Information and Cyberspace (CIC).
Disruptive Technology & the Future of Warfare, Discussion with Dr. James Giordano
By Dr. James Giordano | Feb. 26, 2026
Dr. James Giordano joins the NATDEF podcast, hosted by NDU's College of Information and Cyberspace.

Glowing blue biohazard symbol over a dark digital background with binary code and circuit patterns, representing cyber-biological threats.
How AI Can Help Enforce the Biological Weapons Convention
By Dr. Elise Annett, Dr. James Giordano, and Brendan Melley | Feb. 23, 2026
President Donald Trump’s recent proposal to the United Nations General Assembly regarding the use of artificial intelligence systems to support oversight and enforcement of the Biological Weapons Convention represents a significant milestone in focusing emergent technological approaches to international biosecurity.

AI models struggle to form analogies when considering complex subjects, like humans can, meaning their use in real-world decision making could be risky. (Image credit: imaginima/Getty Images)
AI-powered military neurotech: Mind enhancement or control?
By Aliya Sternstein | Jan. 26, 2026
Neurable, a consumer neurotechnology startup, has partnered with the Air Force to study whether electrode-studded headphones can track service members’ cognitive fitness, much like Garmin smartwatches have monitored Space Force members’ physical fitness, company and government officials said this month.

Cover Image for Journal of Military Ethics, Volume 24, Issue 3-4, (2025)
Re-constructing and Construing the Warfighter: The Intersection of Bioengineering and Identity in Neurotechnologically Enhanced Military Personnel
By Elise Annett, John Shook, and James Giordano | Jan. 8, 2026
Current joint warfighters are no longer merely trained — in many ways, they are increasingly bioengineered.

Photo by: NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute.
A stylized digital illustration of a glowing DNA double helix suspended in a futuristic blue interface. Surrounding the helix are schematic icons representing molecular structures, chemical formulas, data grids, network nodes, and atomic symbols. The image visually conveys the convergence of biotechnology, data, artificial intelligence, and advanced scientific systems in a highly networked, modern research environment.
Biotechnologies and the Treaty Gap: Why Biological Weapons Governance Is Falling Behind; and Some Thoughts on How to Fix It
By Dr. James Giordano | Dec. 22, 2025
The Scottish ballad Auld Lang Syne, written in 1788 by poet Robert Burns is a tune traditionally played to ring out the passing year and herald in the new. The lyrics offer an invitation to celebrate that which was good, and toast to what may come.

A stylized, futuristic human face rendered in blue and red digital circuits. The left side of the face glows blue with circuit lines, while the right side has warm orange and red colors with sparks of light. Surrounding the figure is a network of data pathways, symbolizing the intersection of human cognition and artificial intelligence.
Human Agency Under Predictive Insight: Neuroethical Guidance of Behavioral AI
By Elise Annett and Dr. James Giordano | Dec. 2, 2025
The examination of the Centaur AI system highlights a turning point at the intersection of behavioral science and artificial intelligence, and reveals a compelling truth: human choice displays structured regularity that advanced analytic systems can model.

A soldier wears virtual reality glasses; a graphic depiction of a chess set sits in the foreground. Illustration created by NIWC Pacific.
Critical Technology Areas Part 2: Implications and Recommendations for the Warfighter and Warfighting
By Dr. James Giordano | Nov. 24, 2025
As noted in last week’s special edition Strategic Insights, the Department of War will focus upon furthering research, testing and use of six key domains of disruptive technology (viz., applied artificial intelligence [AI], biomanufacturing, contested logistics technologies, quantum and battlefield information dominance, scaled directed energy, and scaled hypersonics).

Special Edition Image
Convergent Critical Technologies Part 1: The Integrative Transformation of Warfighting
By Dr. James Giordano | Nov. 18, 2025
The Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering’s designation of six Critical Technology Areas (CTAs; viz., Applied Artificial Intelligence, Biomanufacturing, Contested Logistics Technologies, Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance, Scaled Directed Energy, and Scaled Hypersonics) constitutes a fundamental conceptualization of how power will be projected, contested, and sustained across the conflict spectrum.

The image shows a silhouette of a human head in profile, with the brain area illustrated using circuit-like patterns.
Darwin Monkey: Next Generation Neuromorphic Computing and Competition for Cognitive Capability and Control
By Elise Annett and Dr. James Giordano | Nov. 18, 2025
The Darwin Monkey System represents a substantive pivot from conventional AI toward synthetic cognition through neuromorphic architectures that emulate the structural and functional dynamics of the brain.