Written by Michael Thervil
Gen. Richard D. Clarke, Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command Photo by Barry Loo/US Air Force
No matter the country and no matter the time, specialized soldiers and in this case Special Operators have been an invaluable tool when it comes to executing military operations. From the Russian Spetsnaz and Alpha Unit, Gruppo di Intervento Speciale (GIS), to GROM, to the Gurkhas, to SAS/SBS, to the U.S. Army Rangers, Navy SEAL’s, Army Delta, the Marine MARSOC, to Israel’s Shaldag and Sayeret Matkal, even local law enforcement SWAT Teams; all of these specialized units have been extremely useful in combat everything from terrorism to mass shooters and everything in between. But with everything that they have accomplished over the decades, it appears that their services may not be needed as much as they previously were. The reason for this is because of the way technology has advanced on and off the battlefield.
As warfighting has changed over time, it is expected to see a reduction in the number of Special Operators around the world. With the onslaught of unmanned aerial drones (and various other types), missiles, energy-based weapons, and state-of-the-art artillery being the status quo of the day, there just doesn’t seem to be a high demand to risk the lives of Special Operators (or police, and soldiers of any kind) on the battlefield. Understand, this doesn’t mean that the need for Special Operators will completely be phased out in the next 10 years or so, but again the number of Special Operators will be drastically reduced.
The time and the vast amount of training needed to render a Special Operator can be reduced to the manufacturing of a weapon system over the course of a several weeks to a few months dedicated to the process of creation and manufacturing of a product; coupled with the advancement of algorithms, machine learning, continuous revising and testing. If not, at the very least, warfighting can be reduced to a human sitting behind a desk engaging an enemy – which is what’s currently happening right now. To date, it was reported that the U.S. Army has reduced its number of Special Operators by 4000 while at the same time increasing the number of soldiers fitted with what it considers to be “High-Tech Skills” (software, data analysis, programing, robotics, Artificial Intelligence, networking, etc..). With that being said, the era of fighting terrorism and insurgency the way it used to be done appears to be coming to an end.
When it comes to the question of “Tech or Bullets?”. Today’s answer is clearly becoming “Tech” as bullets can only go so far and can only get certain things done and almost always leaves a trace. Technology on the other hand, which are the new Special Operators, have the ability to overtly and covertly kill and/or influence targeted subjects to be kill by their peers at virtually any time and in nearly any form with devastating results with such efficiency; that the Handler will either escape responsibility or they will never conceptually enter the minds of the targeted. It is here the death of the “analogue” Special Operator starts.
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