The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a £86m contract to BlackTree Technologies to equip soldiers with AI-enabled radios, headsets and tablets.
Known as the dismounted data system (DDS), the system integrates soldiers’ kit into a shared network and will improve situational awareness and enable faster decision-making.
Through DDS, soldiers will receive precise voice and visual data about their surroundings. As inference runs directly on the AI-enabled hardware, rather than in the cloud, it marks a shift toward edge computing in front-line operations.
The equipment uses waveforms specifically engineered for military communications in harsh combat environments. It supports self-forming, mobile wireless networks that allow troops to maintain connectivity and share situational data even under conditions of interference, jamming or limited bandwidth.
The new systems have already been tested by soldiers on deployment in Estonia. According to the MoD, the testing, on Nato’s eastern flank...