Executive Summary

Throughout history, defence technology has profoundly shaped the character of war and warfare. The contemporary defence milieu is one marked by rapid developments, leading to a state of uncertainty for modern armed forces. Complicating matters is the advent of potentially disruptive technologies like unmanned systems and robotics, and the implications of these developments for the future battlespace would be profound. Against this backdrop, the RSIS-TDSI Seminar, which was held on 29 June 2016 at the National University of Singapore, provided a suitable platform for the assessment of the complex interplay between disruptive technologies and the military that operates them. Indeed, the seminar sought to bring RSIS and TDSI together to create an outlet for mutual learning as participants from both organisations can not only tap onto each other’s expertise, but also discuss issues of mutual relevance.

To what extent would disruptive technologies shape the contemporary and future security environments? What would be the impact of technological innovations on militaries? To address these and similar key issues shaping the discourse, the seminar discussed the following themes: (i) the complex operating environment; (ii) disruptive defence technologies; and (iii) cyber issues. These three themes showed that technology and the strategic and cognitive decision-making in its use are underlying constants shaping the contemporary battlespace, and armed forces all over the world would do well to be adaptive in order to cope with this reality.