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Warfare is undergoing a fundamental shift where tech with big price tags is being challenged by a more agile, decentralized model, spearheaded by Silicon Valley-backed start-ups, industry watchers told CNBC.
The traditional defense model — notorious for development cycles that can span decades — is coming under increasing pressure. Companies are instead betting on a new type of warfare, based on shorter lead times that allow for rapid deployments and more cost-effective solutions.
Previously, warfare was about expensive platforms and precision strikes, driving a downsizing in military forces as countries increasingly relied on cutting-edge technology, said Blythe Crawford, former commandant of the RAF’s Air and Space Warfare Centre.
“That all changed, I would argue, when the first $500 drone took out a $5 million tank on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Crawford told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
