The sixth RMA wave : disruption in military affairs?

• Main Author: Raska, Michael
• Other Authors: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Social sciences::Political science; Revolution In Military Affairs; Military Innovation
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/154623
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Revolution in Military Affairs, its concepts, processes, and debates, have evolved in five ‘IT-RMA waves’ since the 1980s. None of them, however, have fully achieved their intended outcomes as their ambitious premises have exceeded available technologies, budgetary resources, and operational capabilities of a given era. This paper argues that a new ‘artificial intelligence-driven RMA’ wave differs in the political, strategic, technological, and operational diffusion paths and patterns. While the AI-RMA may affect select countries and regions disproportionately, its technological advances coupled with an ongoing strategic competition is sufficiently broad to stipulate significant military changes across geopolitical lines.