Human augmentation to deliver an enhanced and resilient people capability for Defence

From first tools, to flight, to advances in medicine and biotechnology, enhancing our innate abilities has been a constant goal and militaries the world over have long sought to advance the limits of human performance in their warfighters. Human augmentation (HA) encompasses a wide range of technologies that straddle a diversity of scientific disciplines and maturity levels, including wearable assistive technologies such as exoskeletons, neurotechnology, pharmacology, telexistence and genetics. Recent and rapid advances in life sciences and biotechnology and the convergence of fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics and medicine present us with a radically different opportunity for optimising and enhancing human performance. HA can be considered a potentially important strategy underpinning our ability to fight and win wars, by making soldiers more lethal and better able to survive. This paper is based on the HA thematic session held at the 6th International Congress on Soldiers' Physical Performance (ICSPP) in London in 2023. It considers aspects of HA of interest to participating nations and provides a state-of-the-art review of HA from a military perspective by experts engaged in this area. It considers the development of capability requirements, ethical, legal and social aspects and candidate HA technologies, one with ancient roots but modern applications for Defence (pharmacological augmentation) and one emerging area (non-invasive brain stimulation). HA offers a number of benefits, opportunities and challenges to the Defence community. Deployment of these technologies must take place within the boundaries of a nation's core values and beliefs, the rules-based international order and the freedoms that underpin their militaries' moral and ethical foundations.