In recent years, the United States, Russia and other military powers have applied the latest scientific and technological achievements to the military field. With the advent of a series of new weapons and equipment, the form of war is quietly changing -
a new round of world military science and technology revolution is surging
The Russian military's "Dagger" hypersonic weapon system successfully completed the test in the Arctic, and the U.S. Navy began to test unmanned sailboats in the waters near Jordan.
It is not difficult to find that in recent years, with the continuous progress of global scientific and technological level, a large number of cutting-edge technologies have been applied to the military field.
The rapid development of hypersonic weapons
Hypersonic weapons mainly refer to weapons based on hypersonic flight technology and flying at a speed of more than 5 times the speed of sound, including missiles, bombers, and reconnaissance aircraft.
This new type of weapon, which is known to be fast, is believed by many military experts to change the future war mode to a certain extent.
In recent years, the world's military powers such as the United States and Russia have launched fierce competition in the field of hypersonic weapons, and launched a number of hypersonic weapons research and development projects, some of which have achieved major breakthroughs.
Russia is a leader in the field of hypersonic weapons.
As early as the late 1980s, the Soviet Union began to develop a hypersonic cruise missile code-named "X-90".
At present, Russia has three main types of hypersonic missiles, namely "Zircon", "Dagger" and "Pioneer".
Among them, the "Dagger" hypersonic missile has a speed of up to Mach 10. It is launched by the MiG-31 fighter and can carry conventional warheads or nuclear warheads. It is the first hypersonic weapon put into use by the Russian army.
The "Pioneer" hypersonic ICBM has a speed of more than Mach 20, which is enough to easily penetrate the air defense and anti-missile network carefully constructed by the opponent.
At the end of 2019, the first land-based "Pioneer" missile regiment of the Russian army joined the combat duty.
"Zircon" is Russia's first sea-based hypersonic cruise missile. It was successfully tested in October 2020. It can fly at a speed of Mach 9 and can be launched from warships or submarines.
美国同样十分看重高超声速武器。目前，美军各军种在研高超声速武器项目中，主要包括海军的“常规快速打击”高超声速滑翔飞行器、陆军的“远程高超声速武器”、空军的AGM-183“空射快速响应武器”和“高超声速攻击巡航导弹”等。不过，美军高超声速武器的发展之路并不顺利。2021年，美空军对新型高超声速导弹进行了3次试射，均以失败告终。
此外，日本、韩国、印度等国亦有各自的高超声速武器发展计划与项目。可以预见，在高超声速武器研发领域，各国激烈竞争的态势将愈发明显。
人工智能技术应用广泛
人工智能是引领新一轮军事变革的核心技术之一。近年来，为抢占军事科技制高点，各主要国家在把人工智能研发上升为国家战略的同时，也在不断推进人工智能技术在军事领域的应用。
美国是最早研发人工智能技术并将其运用于军事领域的国家。目前，美国国防部高级研究计划局启动了“下一代人工智能”项目，主要内容包括：促进国防部关键业务流程自动化的技术更新，提高人工智能系统的适应性和可靠性，增强机器学习和人工智能技术的安全性和灵活性，创新下一代人工智能的算法和应用。同时，美军将人工智能技术发展纳入国防部信息化计划。据报道，美海军EA-18G“咆哮者”电子战飞机因采用机器学习算法等技术，已具备对抗敌方未知雷达的能力。
俄罗斯军用人工智能技术已经历了实战检验。在协助叙利亚政府军打击反政府武装的战斗中，俄军就使用了战斗机器人、无人机和自动化指挥系统等。目前，俄罗斯自主研发的人工智能陆战机器人包括“平台-M”“阿尔戈”等型号，可执行巡逻、侦察、排雷、近距离火力支援等任务。此外，俄军还研发了外形类似军犬、能够快速奔跑的机器人，用于担负向火线运送弹药给养等任务。
英国、德国、以色列等国也纷纷将人工智能技术研究作为国防建设的重点。英国宣称已经研制出一种名为“智人”的军用机器人。德国的“台风”战机已成功实现与遥控载具的相互联通。以色列军方正在进行智能坦克的研发，该型坦克可实现自主规划任务、自动驾驶、自动使用武器。
无人作战武器方兴未艾
当今时代，新一轮世界科技革命迅猛发展，战争形态正加速向智能化演变。为了打赢未来战争，各大国纷纷加速发展无人作战武器，积极探索人机协同战法。
按照俄罗斯国防部的计划，俄军正在组建首支由攻击型机器人组成的无人作战部队。该部队包括5套“天王星-9”机器人系统和20辆无人战车。“天王星-9”是一款多功能战斗平台，装备有2A72型30毫米自动火炮、7.62毫米机枪、反坦克导弹等武器。目前，俄罗斯陆军、海军和空军都列装了无人作战平台。俄陆军每个师旅级单位均编有无人机连，俄北方舰队编有无人机团。
美国陆军各级作战单位大都编有无人机分队。美海军正在实施“幽灵舰队”计划，准备打造一支包括10艘无人舰艇的部队。目前，美海军已经完成“流浪者”号和“游骑兵”号两艘无人舰艇的双艇测试。这两艘舰艇将加装Mk41导弹垂直发射系统或Mk57先进垂直发射系统。根据美海军今年1月初发布的一份指导文件，中大型无人水面作战舰艇及其编队将是他们今后发展的重点。
法国、英国等国也都努力在无人作战武器研发领域寻求突破。英国国防部计划于2025年开始制造第一架无人战机。该战机配备导弹和电子战装备，将成为英国首款能够击落敌方飞机、抵御地空导弹威胁的无人战机。英国国防部宣称，这款无人战机能够发现并躲避敌人的防空系统，即便是在遭到网络攻击的情况下，也可持续执行任务。
（作者：吴敏文 单位：国防科技大学信息通信学院）