The German Bundeswehr plans to introduce artificial intelligence–based tools to speed up battlefield decision‑making, Thomas Daum, head of the Bundeswehr Cyber Command, told the Handelsblatt newspaper.
According to Daum, the military is currently evaluating about 30 different tools as part of an ongoing assessment. He said there is a good chance a prototype will be ready by the second half of 2027, with full‑scale deployment potentially beginning in 2028.
Why the move?
The war in Ukraine highlighted that the use of drones and satellites produces very large volumes of data. Artificial intelligence can process this information at speeds unattainable by human analysts alone, which is why the Bundeswehr wants to harness AI to enable faster and better‑informed decisions on the battlefield.
Which providers are involved?
Handelsblatt reports that the majority of candidate systems under consideration are developed by German companies. A small number of foreign competitors are also in the running, including the French firm ChapsVision.
Palantir’s Maven ruled out
In an April statement, Thomas Daum excluded adopting Palantir’s Maven Smart System, a well‑known AI‑based defense software. Maven is used by the United States, NATO and several allied militaries to analyse battlefield datasets and speed decision‑making. In March, the U.S. Department of Defense announced it would grant official status to the Maven system, securing its long‑term use across the U.S. military.
Some parts of Europe prefer to avoid Palantir software to preserve political and strategic autonomy from the United States.
Significance
A domestically developed Bundeswehr decision‑support system would increase operational independence from foreign suppliers while improving the speed of data processing and response in modern warfare. The reported schedule targets a prototype by late 2027 and broader deployment from 2028.
