Inaugural event focused on Innovation in Ukraine
On Friday, May 17th, CMI2 hosted the inaugural session of a new speaker series, “Tactical Realities of War,” an exclusive event designed specifically for military professionals, technologists, and forward-thinking practitioners. The event, held both virtually and at the Wilson Theater in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, featured several guest speakers:
- Leo Blanken, Associate Professor at Naval Postgraduate School
- Mick Ryan, Major General (Retired) of the Australian Army
- August Cole, author
Robert Leach, a CMI2 innovation chief, moderated the event and began at 10:00 a.m. discussing what innovation means in the modern-day.
“Change for change’s sake is not where we want to be,” Leach said. “You have to know where we’re going in order to push that ship in the right direction.”
After a short break, Dr. Leo Blanken discussed innovation in war as time progresses. Specifically, Dr. Blanken highlighted two models of innovation: a “Lighthouse” model previously used by the U.S. in the Cold War and beyond, and a “Christmas Tree” model that would be ideal for modern day.
“When we think of innovations from [the Cold War], they largely focus on tactical or really marginal innovations to optimize things like the targeting cycle: to find, to fix, to finish,” Dr. Blanken said. “Now, we don’t have that ‘moth to a flame’ pipeline of money attracting the best and the brightest to these problems.”
“Our legacy ‘Lighthouse’ system of innovation and transformation is not going to be structurally suited to the challenge set that we’re facing moving forward. It needs two additional pieces: these twinkling lights and these branches on the edge [of a Christmas tree]…we’re seeing a lot of energy around enabling distributed innovation at the edge and I think that’s fantastic.”
Next, Retired Major General Mick Ryan joined remotely to discuss innovations and battlefield trends in areas like Ukraine. “What we’ve seen in the last two years is really unprecedented. It is indeed a Cambrian explosion; The most intense period of innovation in autonomous, semi-autonomous, and remotely controlled systems that we have seen in the history of these things.”
Following MG(R) Ryan was August Cole, author of fictional war novels “Burn In” and “Ghost Fleet,” who spoke about what a future war could look like using a fictional lens.
“A lot of people would think it’s heretical to use something like fiction to make actual decisions that impact things like national security,” Cole said. “But I would say that narrative [is] one of the oldest and best technologies around…You can use something like a story alongside a strategy, alongside a traditional foresight document. It’s more effective, actually, when used in combination like that.”
The ”Tactical Realities of War” series will examine the practical challenges armed forces face in demanding environments, while also evaluating the future of technological advancements in warfare and exploring how military innovation is actively shaping the contemporary landscape of armed conflict. The goal is to provide valuable insights that empower military professionals to tap into the creative potential within their ranks, fostering the development of successful tactics and truly disruptive operating concepts.
Watch the Event