Latest news with #PierreVandier
Los Angeles Times
25-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Wary of Washington, Europe frets it will be left behind on an AI battlefield
THE HAGUE — Days before NATO was set to convene in the Netherlands, one of its top commanders, Pierre Vandier, tasked with transforming the alliance for the next fight, put out a call: Britain will need to step up its intelligence contributions to the alliance going forward. 'The UK has this in its DNA,' Vandier said. It was an acknowledgment that the United States, pivoting toward a far greater intelligence threat from China, may leave its European allies behind in their own existential fight with Russia. A lack of reliability on the world's leading AI superpower, European officials say, will render the continent vulnerable in a race for intelligence superiority set to revolutionize global battlefields. The rush toward artificial intelligence has been a strong undercurrent at the NATO Summit in the Hague this week, serving not only as a gathering for leaders of the alliance, but also as a defense industry forum for emerging power players in Silicon Valley, treated in Holland's gilded halls as a new kind of royalty. 'AI is going to be an important part of warfare going forward, but it's still very new, and NATO tends not to be at the tip of the spear of innovation — and there is some division within the alliance on how to develop AI, when it comes to AI regulation and safety,' said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'Tech companies don't hold the same pride of place in the European economic system, and they're not consumed with the need to compete with China militarily — they are much more focused on Russia,' Bergmann added. 'While the U.S. is about winning the AI race, Europeans are watching what's happening in Ukraine and saying, 'we just need to deter Russia.'' So far, for European capitals, that has meant incorporating powerful data collection and processing systems into defense departments and improving the performance of automated surveillance systems and drones — skills well within Europe's capabilities. Several German and French companies, such as Helsing, Azur and Quantum Systems, are already developing products based on what they are seeing in Ukraine. But the next fight will require technologies that dwarf existing drone capabilities, experts said. 'We've been predicting for a while that there would be integration of AI into military research and development and defense systems, and I expect, for example, that advanced cyber capabilities will play an important role in the coming years,' said Jonas Vollmer, chief operating officer of the AI Futures Project. 'Europe has influence, but it is grappling with the difficult reality that they don't have access or strong domestic development of frontier AI systems, and they are pretty far behind.' Last year, NATO allies agreed to speed up the adoption of artificial intelligence in its operations. There are signs the bloc senses urgency to do so, signing an agreement with Palantir, a U.S.-based technology company, to incorporate AI into its warfighting systems after just six months of negotiations. The United States and China are far ahead of competitors in the race for AI superiority, measured in raw computing power and proximity to general artificial intelligence — AI that has human-level cognitive capabilities to learn and develop on its own – and ultimately to superintelligence, surpassing the human mind. Still, the United Kingdom is a serious player in the field. The kingdom ranks third in government investment in AI research anywhere in the world and maintains strong partnerships with some of the most powerful U.S. players. In its most recent defense strategy, also published shortly before the NATO summit, Britain committed to integrate artificial intelligence into its 'NATO-first' national security approach. 'Forecasts of when Artificial General Intelligence will occur are uncertain but shortening, with profound implications for Defence,' the document reads. Europe's race for intelligence capabilities is driven, in part, by lessons learned on the battlefields of Ukraine. But Russia is not seen as an AI powerhouse in and of itself. Moscow instead uses low-cost tests of drone incursions and cyberattacks to keep pressure on the alliance, Vandier told the Times of London in an interview. 'The aim, I think, is to consume all our energy in purely defensive actions, which are very costly,' he said. Whether Russia can enhance its own AI capabilities is an open question. 'The key ingredients of being at the frontier with AI are talent and data centers,' said Vollmer, of the AI Futures Project. 'Russia lags far behind on both,' he added, 'but they can collaborate with China, of course.'
Telegraph
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
UK should lead Nato spying operations, commander says
The UK should take the lead on Nato intelligence operations as the US shifts its focus towards China, one of the alliance's most senior officers has said. Pierre Vandier, Nato's supreme allied commander transformation, said that Britain should play a key role in developing Western surveillance technology in the coming years. Under Donald Trump's administration, the US government has repeatedly said that European allies will be required to do more to protect themselves against Russia. At this week's Nato summit, Mr Trump will push member states to commit to spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence to shore up the alliance against threats from the East. Mr Vandier, a former French navy officer, said that Britain and its spy agencies would work on new 'C4ISR' intelligence systems, which are used to predict air, land, sea and space attacks. He told the House Magazine that if an attack was to be launched, the UK would focus on the 'joint prioritised target list', which is a register of Nato targets. 'The US may lack satellite people, analysts and brain time if they are focused on China if something happens, and not be able to help the Europeans to build their joint prioritised target list,' he said. 'I think the UK has this in its DNA and so may be useful to build this new generation of C4ISR in Nato.' This week's summit has been described as the most consequential in decades, because of pressure from the US to increase defence spending and the joint threats of conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East. Mr Trump's team have said they believe the UK and other Nato allies should focus on European security while the US handles the rise of China and the prospect of a war over Taiwan. The president has suggested that American forces could withdraw entirely from Europe and that Nato will be left with minimal defences on its eastern flank. Mr Vandier said that a direct attack on Nato countries by Russia was 'possible' and that allies had a 'sense of urgency' about the threat. 'We can't say it will not happen,' he said. 'I'm not able to say what will go on in the future. But I definitely can say it's a race, and so each minute, each week, each month, each year counts.' He added that the UK and other countries were 'not ready' for biological weapon attacks because preparations have focused on 'terrorist attacks and for limited attacks'. 'With biowarfare, you would have maybe thousands of cruise or ballistic missiles arriving with chemical warheads,' he said. 'We are not ready for that.' A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'The UK is committed to strengthening our leadership within Nato. 'As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, the UK will adopt a 'Nato first' approach, stepping up on European security by leading in Nato, with strengthened nuclear, new tech and updated conventional capabilities. 'We remain committed to defending Nato's eastern flank, from our permanent presence in Estonia to our Nato air policing mission in Poland.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NATO needs to get ready for modern war — and fast, top commander tells BI
NATO isn't the 21st-century fighting force it needs to be, a top commander told Business Insider. Adm. Pierre Vandier said member states must reinvest in defense to prepare for the next war. And the alliance has several different initiatives underway that are helping it modernize fast. NATO still has work to do before it becomes the 21st-century fighting force that it needs to be, and allies need to invest heavily in their domestic defense industries, a top commander told Business Insider. "I think it's a struggle," Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and the man overseeing alliance modernization efforts, said during an interview this week at his office in Norfolk, Virginia. In recent decades, NATO militaries have been focused predominantly on lower-end counterinsurgency operations in places like Africa or Afghanistan, depending heavily on expeditionary forces enabled by uncontested airpower. In this context, allies thought differently about their own defense, and supporting industries were not sufficiently focused on preparing the alliance for a modern war against a top adversary. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 set off alarm bells throughout NATO, with Western officials warning that Moscow could feel emboldened to push deeper into Europe if it wasn't adequately deterred, presenting the alliance with the possibility of a large-scale conventional war or worse. The past three years have seen many NATO states dramatically boost their defense spending and buy more weaponry. Countries along the eastern and northern edges — the front lines of the alliance, as they share borders with Russia — are hardening their defenses. However, many still argue that there's more work to be done. "I think we forgot all the big principles of a symmetric war, and so it's where we need to reinvest," Vandier said, referring to a conflict in which combatants are more evenly matched. He added that because the defense industrial base shrank so much over the years, ramping it up is "very difficult." Delivering on high-end platforms like warships, fighter jets, and missiles can be a yearslong process. A single F-35 stealth aircraft, for instance, takes around 18 months to build. Vandier warned that if a fight breaks out before NATO has sufficiently bolstered its defenses, the alliance could have a major problem. He acknowledged that NATO still has a long way to go to reach its full potential as a modern fighting force. Member countries are pledging to spend more of their respective GDPs on defense, but the process of going from funding projects to delivery is far from quick. "It's a question of speed," Vandier said. In 2014, when Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula, NATO members agreed to spend 2% of their national GDP on defense. Since then, amid increased Russian aggression, the number of allies that have met or exceeded that goal has steadily risen from three to 22 last year. Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said all allies will reach the 2% target this year, though he is calling for heads of state to agree to a new target — 5%, in line with calls from the Trump administration — at a summit later this month. "The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defense," he said Monday at an event in London. "We must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defense plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends." In its quest to become a modern fighting force, NATO is also focused on integrating asymmetric solutions like drones and other new emerging technologies into its planning. The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have highlighted the value of uncrewed systems. Vandier and his Allied Command Transformation are at the forefront of these efforts. One initiative they've rolled out is Task Force X, an experiment underway in the Baltic Sea that uses drones, artificial intelligence, and other tech to monitor and deter aggressive Russian activity in the region. Unlike the West's traditional weapons procurement process, which can be slow, Task Force X is NATO's attempt to showcase its speed by quickly deploying cheap and readily available systems to counter Russia. It is simultaneously working to integrate emerging tech with traditional maritime operations. Vandier emphasized the importance of achieving what he described as "digital transformation at speed." He said that another crucial element in NATO's efforts to modernize is leveraging commercial space to improve command, control, communications, and computers, simply known as C4, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. "These are, I think, the two most critical domains for the alliance at war," the commander said. Meanwhile, NATO just shared it has signed a contract with US commercial satellite imaging company Planet Labs PBC in a first-of-its-kind agreement that will give the alliance expanded surveillance capabilities, helping it track potential threats such as new defensive fortifications or large troop build-ups along the eastern edge. Vandier said that, aside from the US, no other country in NATO had this capability and stressed that if America pivots all its surveillance focus to the Pacific, the alliance needs to be self-sufficient and have the resources to keep tabs on Russia, Ukraine, and the rest of Europe, from the Arctic down to the Black Sea. The seven-figure agreement is another example of NATO's efforts to modernize at speed and firm up Europe's defenses. "We've been able to do that in three months, from idea to delivery," Vandier said. "Three months to find the money, make the contract, put that in the field." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
13-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
NATO needs to get ready for modern war — and fast, top commander tells BI
NATO still has work to do before it becomes the 21st-century fighting force that it needs to be, and allies need to invest heavily in their domestic defense industries, a top commander told Business Insider. "I think it's a struggle," Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and the man overseeing alliance modernization efforts, said during an interview this week at his office in Norfolk, Virginia. In recent decades, NATO militaries have been focused predominantly on lower-end counterinsurgency operations in places like Africa or Afghanistan, depending heavily on expeditionary forces enabled by uncontested airpower. In this context, allies thought differently about their own defense, and supporting industries were not sufficiently focused on preparing the alliance for a modern war against a top adversary. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 set off alarm bells throughout NATO, with Western officials warning that Moscow could feel emboldened to push deeper into Europe if it wasn't adequately deterred, presenting the alliance with the possibility of a large-scale conventional war or worse. The past three years have seen many NATO states dramatically boost their defense spending and buy more weaponry. Countries along the eastern and northern edges — the front lines of the alliance, as they share borders with Russia — are hardening their defenses. However, many still argue that there's more work to be done. "I think we forgot all the big principles of a symmetric war, and so it's where we need to reinvest," Vandier said, referring to a conflict in which combatants are more evenly matched. He added that because the defense industrial base shrank so much over the years, ramping it up is "very difficult." Delivering on high-end platforms like warships, fighter jets, and missiles can be a yearslong process. A single F-35 stealth aircraft, for instance, takes around 18 months to build. Vandier warned that if a fight breaks out before NATO has sufficiently bolstered its defenses, the alliance could have a major problem. He acknowledged that NATO still has a long way to go to reach its full potential as a modern fighting force. Member countries are pledging to spend more of their respective GDPs on defense, but the process of going from funding projects to delivery is far from quick. "It's a question of speed," Vandier said. In 2014, when Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula, NATO members agreed to spend 2% of their national GDP on defense. Since then, amid increased Russian aggression, the number of allies that have met or exceeded that goal has steadily risen from three to 22 last year. Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said all allies will reach the 2% target this year, though he is calling for heads of state to agree to a new target — 5%, in line with calls from the Trump administration — at a summit later this month. "The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defense," he said Monday at an event in London. "We must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defense plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends." Modernizing at speed In its quest to become a modern fighting force, NATO is also focused on integrating asymmetric solutions like drones and other new emerging technologies into its planning. The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have highlighted the value of uncrewed systems. Vandier and his Allied Command Transformation are at the forefront of these efforts. One initiative they've rolled out is Task Force X, an experiment underway in the Baltic Sea that uses drones, artificial intelligence, and other tech to monitor and deter aggressive Russian activity in the region. Unlike the West's traditional weapons procurement process, which can be slow, Task Force X is NATO's attempt to showcase its speed by quickly deploying cheap and readily available systems to counter Russia. It is simultaneously working to integrate emerging tech with traditional maritime operations. Vandier emphasized the importance of achieving what he described as "digital transformation at speed." He said that another crucial element in NATO's efforts to modernize is leveraging commercial space to improve command, control, communications, and computers, simply known as C4, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. "These are, I think, the two most critical domains for the alliance at war," the commander said. Meanwhile, NATO just shared it has signed a contract with US commercial satellite imaging company Planet Labs PBC in a first-of-its-kind agreement that will give the alliance expanded surveillance capabilities, helping it track potential threats such as new defensive fortifications or large troop build-ups along the eastern edge. Vandier said that, aside from the US, no other country in NATO had this capability and stressed that if America pivots all its surveillance focus to the Pacific, the alliance needs to be self-sufficient and have the resources to keep tabs on Russia, Ukraine, and the rest of Europe, from the Arctic down to the Black Sea. The seven-figure agreement is another example of NATO's efforts to modernize at speed and firm up Europe's defenses. "We've been able to do that in three months, from idea to delivery," Vandier said. "Three months to find the money, make the contract, put that in the field."
Bloomberg
13-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
NATO Prepares to Shield Its Eastern Flank
Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. NATO plans to hold a short summit focused on delivering what US President Donald Trump asked for: a commitment to spend 5% of GDP on defense. But beyond this number, deeper shifts are underway as NATO reorganizes with one goal: deterring Russia. The allies are discussing for the first time combining the alliance's ballistic missile shield with other integrated missile-defense assets, we're told. This is part of an effort to shield NATO's eastern flank from attack, a move likely to stoke tensions with Russia. Meanwhile the alliance is also expanding its satellite surveillance capacities to scan large swaths of land in order to monitor military movements in Ukraine and on Russia's borders with its eastern members, top commander Pierre Vandier told us.
