Future Operating Context: Augmented Human Performance

Over the next 20 years the world will see a proliferation of the means to supplement human performance. A parallel rise in their use will impact both the battlefield and supporting military functions from shipyards to watchfloors. Human performance enhancement will come in several forms – wearable, implantable, biological, and chemical. This is not an endorsement of any of these approaches but instead a discussion of developments that might aid our future forces or else emerge among their adversaries.

Wearable

Today’s wearable human augmentation devices largely are those that increase situational awareness, such as augmented reality and heads-up displays (HUDs) in helmets, and those for protection, such as armor or gloves. A few like firefighting oxygen tanks and early exoskeltons provide operational benefits by broadening specific human capabilities. Others, such as health monitors and smartwatches’ computing power and communications, provide operational benefits by adding new abilities.

The next decades will see these augments improved, joined by those that offer even more capabilities, all combined in integrated wearable systems. Some of these advances will be integrated in exosuits, “composed of some combination of armor, mechanical systems, sensors, communications, interfaces, data displays, weapons, medical systems and power supplies. Exoskeletons are often a central feature of exosuits, bearing and transferring a load to the ground through a frame external to the user.”[i] Exosuits will increase strength and endurance, lower risk of injury, and incorporate a range of operational benefits including immediate medical healing systems. Sailors in the next decades will be able to use the suits for such tasks as damage control, deck and port operations, and performing general shipboard maintenance while Marines are likely to make direct use of them in combat.

Both services will have to contend with the availability of less integrated, but still powerful wearable augmentation capabilities widely available as the result of commercial developments. These will make their way into the hands of the civilian populations the Navy and Marines interact with at sea and ashore, as well as adversaries, which may pose threats.

Implantable

Wearable devices aren’t the only means to achieving many of the promised boosts to human performance. Implantable devices do the same more permanently and discreetly, and are sturdier. While most applications to date have focused on prosthetics for missing limbs, restoring capabilities to skilled workers who might otherwise leave the workforce, many of the same technology gains can be applied to improving performance for people without a physical impairment. Furthermore, some of the capabilities of wearable devices can be improved upon using implants, especially those that interact with the human body to achieve effects. These include health monitoring sensors, machines that provide a biological stimulus, and implants that interface with the brain and neural impulses to control external gear – from drones to communication equipment.

Major ethical concerns about the voluntary and reversible nature of such augmentations mean that it is more likely these enhancements will first gain traction in state and non-state forces that do not place as much weight on ethical concerns as our own. Additionally, our personnel system might confront the problem of recruiting from a population whose use of augmentation clashes with policies for use by service members. This is already an issue with chemical and biological substance use, such as anabolic steroids and human growth hormones, especially when substances are legal but prohibited by policy. On the other hand, the costs of implantable augmentation may mean it’s available only to well-funded individuals or organizations.

Biological and Chemical

The same ethical concerns that will bedevil the DoN policies towards implantable devices exist in the realms of biological and chemical supplements. Yet the prevalence of caffeine in the naval forces shows that acceptance of substances to enhance human physical and cognitive performance has long been a matter of degrees. Over the next decades the DoN’s policies might not change much from today, or may do so as advances in performance enhancement materialize. The result will depend in large measure on the substances’ costs and safety, and the reversibility of their impacts. As with implantable devices, whatever policies are in place in the U.S. military are likely to be more restrictive than those of our least restrictive adversary. This means the future well may hold new dangers for our forces operating among and against those enjoying the benefits of performance enhancement drugs, whether they be to increase strength, endurance, or mental abilities.

Future Operating Considerations

As the above sections indicate, there are actions DoN can take to leverage the maturing technologies of human augmentation, and actions it should take as a matter of diligence. While the DoN can support the research, development, and testing of specific augmentation technologies to ensure it has access to the best equipment and CONOPs for use, ethical considerations will guide its policies for use. The DoN should begin the exploration of ethical implications of future augmentation advances now, to better explain initial positions on use and adoption, while understanding that the level of comfort with any specific technology (and therefore acceptable use) may well evolve over time. At the same time, the DoN should prepare to contend with a future of adversaries and civilians with access to augmentation technologies – exploring the implications and developing ways to mitigate potential disadvantages borne of a reluctance to adopt ethically questionable augmentation practices. For example, a VBSS team might need increased protection operating on a ship whose crew includes individuals willing to greatly augment their strength through chemical or biological substances. While U.S. naval forces may never be willing to go as far as others into the grey areas of augmentation they must nonetheless be ready to deal with those who do.

** = The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense or the United States government.