The Torch
Illuminating Security and Defence Issues
Emerging Technologies
The Future of Submarine Tracking Through Quantum Research and the AUKUS Partnership
13 December 2025
The U.K.’s successful testing of quantum atomic clocks aboard submarines provides validation for further research in quantum integration in underwater environments. These trials are not only advancing GPS-independent navigation but also validating the stability of quantum systems in submarine conditions. This progress will likely influence the development of quantum magnetometers in the near future. ...
The pilot of an F-22 just controlled a drone wingman in flight
13 December 2025
High above a Nevada test range, an F-22 pilot took control of a combat drone last month, a first for the Air Force's robot wingman effort. The pilot used a tablet for “command and control” of the MQ‑20 Avenger combat drone during an Oct. 21 flight at the Air Force’s Nevada Test and Training Range, according to a Monday press release by MQ-20 maker General Atomics, which worked on the demonstration with F-22 builder Lockheed Martin and defense company L3Harris....
Military AI needs guardrails—not to slow it down, but to keep it useful
13 December 2025
As the Trump administration pushes to “aggressively adopt AI” in the military, there’s a recognition that some of the models may have protections or limitations that aren’t applicable in a military context. To be sure, some of these will need modification to suit the military’s mission. But there are many reasons that the military will want to have guardrails built in, for its own protection....
AI is about to reshape command structures that haven’t changed much since Napoleon
13 November 2025
Despite two centuries of evolution, the structure of a modern military staff would be recognizable to Napoleon. At the same time, military organizations have struggled to incorporate new technologies as they adapt to new domains – air, space and information – in modern war.
Planning for risks in the quantum age
13 November 2025
Quantum computing is sounding less like a distant sci-fi dream these days, with the pace of investment and scientific advances bringing it closer to reality. These new quantum systems will bring new opportunities, but also threaten some of our existing cybersecurity fundamentals.
The key to winning a Pacific war: cheap cruise missiles
12 November 2025
Cheap ground-launched cruise missiles could be the decisive weapons of the next Pacific war. They’re concealable, mobile, just accurate enough to hit some of the time, just powerful enough to inflict meaningful damage and—most importantly—simple enough to be inexpensive and mass-producible. These munitions could sink fleets, wipe out air forces, unravel supply lines and devastate war industries.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S GROWING ROLE IN MODERN WARFARE
13 October 2025
Nations are racing to integrate AI into military operations, with Ukraine and Russia at the forefront of developing autonomous systems for battlefield advantage....
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Reflections on Artificial intelligence and Canadian Defence
13 October 2025
The question is no longer whether armed forces will adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI), but how deeply it will be integrated into their operations. ...
Is AI Ready for Golden Dome’s Three-Minute War?
13 October 2025
President Trump’s Golden Dome initiative has certainly created buzz within the Space industry. There are a lot of questions still unanswered, namely what the architecture of the system will be. Despite this, some inferences can be made as to what this space-based system will eventually consist of.
Reflections on Artificial intelligence and Canadian Defence
5 September 2025
The question is no longer whether armed forces will adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI), but how deeply it will be integrated into their operations. The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Department of National Defence (DND) have acknowledged this reality by releasing an ambitious AI Strategy in 2024.
How Artificial General Intelligence Could Affect the Rise and Fall of Nations
5 September 2025
This report is intended to stimulate thinking among policymakers about possible impacts of the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) on geopolitics and the world order by highlighting potential future scenarios for AGI's governance and its effects on global power dynamics. In this report, the authors focus on a variety of impacts — some of which are perhaps unlikely but significant — arising from AGI's development and deployment that could fundamentally alter the existing geopolitical order.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S GROWING ROLE IN MODERN WARFARE
5 September 2025
Nations are racing to integrate AI into military operations, with Ukraine and Russia at the forefront of developing autonomous systems for battlefield advantage.
Not just drones, but massed swarms of them. Defences can’t cope
27 July 2025 -
A new and sophisticated phase of aerial warfare has emerged from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East over the past month, defined by the systematic use of massed drone saturation attacks. This evolving doctrine, refined by Russia and Iran, uses quantity and simultaneity to overwhelm even the most advanced air-defence systems. The core of the tactic lies not in the technological superiority of any single weapon but in the brutal economic and operational logic of drone-based attrition. By doing so, it forces reassessment of how modern militaries can protect their airspace, infrastructure and military assets.
Drones are now bullets: How a new Pentagon policy may accelerate robot warfare
27 July 2025 -
The new policy also allows more units to buy drones, which should boost the demand signal to industry.
AI in Warfare: What You Need to Know in 2025
27 July 2025 -
Let's get smarter about AI in warfare
Pentagon pushes US dronemakers to innovate as quickly as Ukraine does
10 June 2025 -
A new Pentagon program is pushing drone makers to continuously improve their systems based on troops’ feedback, hoping to spur innovation that moves as quickly as the war in Ukraine.
Decrypting tomorrow’s threats: critical infrastructure needs post-quantum protection today
10 June 2025 -
Some argue we still have time, since quantum computing capable of breaking today’s encryption is a decade or more away. But breakthrough capabilities, especially in domains tied to strategic advantage, rarely follow predictable timelines. Just as nuclear research leapt from theory to practical application with little warning, quantum computing could deliver similar surprises. That uncertainty makes waiting a dangerous gamble.
AI Imperative—China’s AI Surge: The New Sputnik Moment
10 June 2025 -
The United States is locked in a technological arms race with China over the future of artificial intelligence, a revolutionary technology with significant implications for national security, economic competitiveness, and political influence on the world stage. To prevent authoritarian dominion over the global development and utilization of advanced intelligent systems, the United States faces an imperative to lead the world in AI.
The Strategist / Australian Strategic Policy Institute
A counter to drone swarms: high-power microwave weapons
20 May 2025
Military forces must prioritise a counter to drone swarming tactics with which inexpensive, mass-produced drones can overwhelm defences. What is needed is a layered defensive system that includes systems that can neutralise many threats within seconds. One such solution is now becoming available: the contemporary high-energy, high-power microwave (HPM) weapon.
China’s counter-UAV efforts reveal more than technological advancement
20 May 2025
They also show the PLA’s dedication to learning from conflict and tech trends and its determination to dominate the electromagnetic battlespace.