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OPINION AUGUST 14, 2026 | The Indian Eye 13

of compute, storage and application ational data sharing and processing
services from the cloud and transfers across the network of participating
the execution of these processes to soldiers, giving them a fuller picture
local places—places closer to where of the battlefield from different per-
decisions and actions must occur, spectives.
such as an ‘edge’ server. Commercial technological life-
The term ‘edge’ is considered cycles are short, whereas military
fuzzy and refers to a combination machine systems are usually de-
of different locations. In the mili- signed to last for tens of years. These
tary context, it can refer to either a legacy military systems also lack the
ruggedised compute on platforms processing power essential for edge
(vehicles, ships, aircraft, unmanned computing during operations, and
systems), or forward-deployed com- some use older communication pro-
mand posts and mobile ‘mini-data- tocols that transmit data too slowly
centres’ or even the processor on a or too insecurely.
sensor or drone or any other military Despite the apparent advantage
tool of its kind operating in the bat- of applying edge computing in mili-
tlefield. For example, the BLADe-S tary systems in challenging environ-
is an indigenously developed, AI-in- ments close to the frontline, physical
tegrated wearable language transla- capture of the edge device by the
tor that uses edge computing com- enemy risks exposing sensitive data.
bined with a built-in neural network These grim operational environ-
processor, offering real-time transla- ments also lack power connectivi-
tion of audio, visual and textual intel- ty or have very little access to it. As
ligence data. such, many edge computing devices
TurbineOne’s Frontline Percep- have batteries or portable generators
tion platform is another recent ex- fitted on them. But these are tempo-
ample powered by edge computing rary fixes to a larger power challenge
and AI. It is used to process complex, associated with edge devices.
multi-source sensor data in environ- Conclusion
ments where communications, band- It is becoming increasingly clear
width and cloud access are limited. that in the rapidly advancing and
American frontline forces have test- digitalised battlefield, quick and in-
ed this platform in ongoing battle- formed decisions will hold the key
field operations in West Asia. Thus, “Analysis of Key Technologies in Edge Computing and Practical Applications in U.S. Military to military success. Therefore, the
a key takeaway is that the network Operations”, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 19 December 2025. incorporation of edge computing in
edge is geographically closer to the military systems is no longer a tech-
end devices than origin or cloud serv- conditions and needs very little add- risk of sensitive military data leakage nological upgrade necessity but a
ers, which are often located much ed space to operate. It can also with- by reducing the attack vector/attack definite requisite from a strategic
further away. stand electromagnetic interference, surface that a malicious actor can ex- point of view. It can also be combined
This effectively brings data pro- dust, vibration, explosions and cur- ploit. This is because data does not
cessing and storage in proximity to rent/voltage fluctuations, making it travel to the centralised cloud servers with other technologies like AI,
5G/6G, IoT (Internet of Things), etc.
the source of data generation, en- a robust military application on the unless needed. Data can be gathered to build a smart military ecosystem.
abling nearby terminals, sensors, battlefield. An example case is the from edge servers, encrypted and Such an integrated network will sig-
or even military operators to access Sentry-X2 Mini, a MIL-SPEC cer- cleansed before being transmitted nificantly improve situational aware-
communication and computational tified rugged edge AI system, devel- elsewhere. Thus, edge computing ness, accelerate response times, and
services more efficiently. Its decen- oped by the firm Connect Tech Inc. makes data interception harder and support overall decision-making. All
tralised design preserves operational (CTI) for critical and autonomous improves data privacy and security. this points to the capability of this
functionality in challenging or lim- aerospace and defence missions in Additionally, edge computing also technology to not only shape the fu-
ited-bandwidth environments while harsh environments. supports network defence applica- ture of warfare, but also improve the
reducing latency. In the military con- Since data processing happens in tions. The ‘Persistent Cyber Hunter’ current state of military operations.
text, these features enhance combat proximity to the source of the data, (PCH) project of the United States
performance and situational aware- edge computing helps reduce both Cyber Command has demonstrated Vivek Reshi is a Research Analyst at the
ness through real-time processing of latency and decision response time. this capability in real combat during Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence
data from weapon systems, monitor- During wartime, when military lead- the ongoing conflict in Ukraine in Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New
ing soldier status, and managing bat- ers must make decisions efficiently 2024 using a network of intelligent Delhi. His research interests lie at the
tlefield information. and in real-time, edge computing AI agents mounted on frontline intersection of emerging technologies,
expedites decision-making by dras- communication devices, satellite ter- national security, and strategic affairs
Military Applications tically reducing the time between minals and shipboard systems.
and Challenges initial data capture and resultant New developments in the field of Views expressed are of the author and

Edge computing, by virtue of action. The United States Air Force edge computing have given rise to the do not necessarily reflect the views of
its design, can work in remote and has incorporated edge computing on concept of ‘digital soldier’. Slightly the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
Government of India
disconnected locations—areas that its F-35 Lightning II fighter jets and different from the established notion
most militaries generally work in. localised data processing through an of soldiers participating in cyberwar- This article first appeared in the
This enables continuous operation on-board heterogeneous computing fare, the idea of a digital soldier is Comments section of the website (www.
and vital data analysis in combat, unit. In doing so, it has drastically re- about utilising small, connected sen- idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar Institute
with little to no network availability. duced sensor data processing latency. sors attached to soldiers, ensuring for Defense Studies and Analyses, New
It can also survive in harsh working Edge computing also reduces the rapid and synchronized local oper- Delhi, on August 4, 2026

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