How wars in Ukraine and Gaza are shaping future military technologies

Clausewitz famously stated, “War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale—a physical contest between people, each using force to compel our enemy to do our will.” Since his time, the nature, purpose, and process of war have transformed significantly. Once, war was considered the final act in the struggle for existence; now, it has evolved into a multidimensional activity involving multiple tactics.

The rise of asymmetric warfare, the formation of alliances and counter-alliances, and the limited nature of modern conflicts have expanded the scope of war far beyond just survival. In asymmetric warfare, when a dominant party can manipulate the course of conflict, there is no need for full-scale resource utilisation or total efficiency to win. This luxury allows dominant parties to push beyond purely political objectives and seek economic gains from war.

Furthermore, modern wars, particularly those involving geographically distant allies, have turned into platforms for testing new technologies and strategies, effectively transforming battlefields into experimental labs. Contemporary conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict, must be viewed through this lens. Both sides in these wars have embraced strong innovation cultures, supported by their allies, leading to the development of cutting-edge military technologies, including lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) and semi-lethal autonomous weapons (SLAWS).

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The limited nature of these wars has allowed for the real-time demonstration of advanced weapons on the battlefield, something that was overshadowed by nuclear deterrence during the Cold War. While it could be argued that nuclear deterrence prompted nations to pursue alternative routes of weaponry, leading to innovations like chemical weapons and advanced missile delivery systems, modern warfare has brought a new dimension: the battlefield as a showcase for technological ingenuity.

When Moscow decided to wage war against Kyiv in 2022, the world was curious about Ukraine’s resilience in the face of Putin’s powerful military. Soon, Ukraine captivated its allies and observers alike with its remarkable technological capacity to counter Russia’s aggression. The use of smartphones by Ukrainian and Russian combatants and noncombatants alike is transforming command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) on the battlefield.

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The monitoring capability of Ukrainian software bug can easily penetrate Russian computers, tablets, and phones, which make them GPS guides for Zelensky’s army. It is followed by small, plastic drones, buzzing quietly overhead, dropping grenades and other ordnance on Russian troops. 3D printers now make spare parts so soldiers can repair heavy equipment in the field. Technicians have converted ordinary pickup trucks into mobile missile launchers.

Beyond testing new technologies, Ukraine has shown that even existing technologies can be pushed to their limits to determine their effectiveness. For example, the US and its allies have been keenly observing how well their weapons perform under the stresses of combat and analysing the types of ammunition each side employs.

One prominent example is the effectiveness of Russia’s use of inexpensive drones supplied by Iran, which have proven effective in targeting Ukraine’s electrical grid. Western military observers have noted how Ukrainian success has largely been attributed to the American-made HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), which has played a decisive role in stalling Russian advances. However, some high-profile systems provided to the Ukrainians, such as the Switchblade 300 drone, have not performed as well as expected, teaching valuable lessons about their durability and maintenance requirements in high-intensity warfare.

The innovation definitely entered a new phase when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war. Israel has exalted tremendous superiority over its adversary in three ways. First, unconventional methods of intelligence gathering and targeted killings have revolutionised warfare. The extensive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a game-changer. The Israeli military, using an AI system known as “Lavender”, has identified tens of thousands of “human targets” for assassination, based on their suspected affiliation with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Once these targets were selected, another AI-based system called “Where’s Daddy?” was employed to track them, often resulting in the killing of entire families and nearby neighbours.

Another AI system, “Habsora”, has been used to identify and destroy buildings and facilities that are purportedly used for military purposes. The second is the manufacturing and deployment of ultramodern weapons. The sources claim that the army only used unguided missiles, sometimes referred to as “dumb” bombs (as opposed to “smart” precision bombs), which have the ability to destroy entire buildings, causing a great deal of casualties, when it came to targeting the alleged junior militants identified by ‘Lavender’. This exercise is the outcome of the logic of cost-cutting in the warfare, which reduced human lives to mere numbers, leading to the deaths of hundreds of women and children in Gaza.

Third, transformation of the conventional artillery to an unconventional level. The 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits the use of lethal weapons on civilian populations; hence, Israel has developed weapons that appear less lethal on the surface but cause significant harm.

The new precision-guided 120 mm mortar bomb called the Iron Sting has the ability to penetrate double-reinforced concrete, making it a formidable force in urban warfare. The Palestinian people have suffered severe injuries as a result of the Israeli army’s testing of rubber bullets, robotic guns with artificial intelligence, and various crowd dispersal techniques.

The lethality of these bullets is deceived by the nature of the wound. The surgeon noticed that the limb after the wound appears intact, but it is difficult to distinguish between bone and soft tissues. Hence, superficial wounds reveal severe internal damage, making these weapons exceptionally dangerous.

Finally, Israel Defence Forces’ ability in expanding the war beyond borders to initiate manipulation of information. Images from the Israel-Hamas conflict have demonstrated AI’s ability to be used as a propaganda tool.

Wars after the 2020s have introduced novel weapons, frontiers, and techniques, pushing the boundaries of battlefield innovation and allowing for the real-time deployment and testing of these advancements in combat. In the Syrian conflict, Russia used the space to demonstrate its weapons and accessed the global arms market. Now Ukraine and Israel are replicating this manoeuvre to an advanced level. The limited and deceived lethality of the weapons combined with psychological techniques makes it hard to bring these innovations under the radar.

China is definitely making notes for its potential technological spectacle at Taiwan or elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Modern battlefields are no longer just theatres of conflict—they’ve become testing grounds where new technologies are forged, pushing the boundaries of warfare and redefining the rules of engagement for future generations.

Pankaj Fanase is a doctoral scholar, CIPOD, at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.