We – cadet 2nd lieutenant Andreas Wouters and cadet sergeant major Nathan Prakopetz – decided in November 2021 to participate together in the European Defence Challenge. The topic of this competition was ‘Remote everything? To what extent can unmanned assets interact with humans in the field for defence operations?’.
Despite the fact that RMA is a small community, we were strangers to each other at the start of the competition. The foundation of our cooperation is a common interest in air defence. Gradually, we became passionate about the dangers of hypersonic missiles. In the first phase of the competition, we had to write a short essay. In the second phase, the best 25 teams were selected to write a ten-page paper about their respective topic. In total, there were 136 entries from 25 European countries. In the final phase, the three finalist teams gave a short presentation about their research. After this, the organizers awarded us the first place, of which we are extremely proud.
Hypersonic missiles are guided airborne ranged weapons that are worrying because of two characteristics. On the one hand because of their hypersonic speed – higher than Mach 5. On the other hand because of their unpredictable trajectory in the atmosphere. These two characteristics together make it impossible for existing air defence systems to counter this type of missile. At the start of this research, hypersonic technology seemed somewhat futuristic. The European Defence Agency classified it as an Emerging Disruptive Technology in 2021. On March 18, 2022, Russia used a hypersonic missile for the first time in a combat setting during their war in Ukraine. The use of this revolutionary weapon in in combat underlines the need for a modern air defence system. Existing technology is not enough to protect European airspace against modern, complex aerial threats.
Bringing modern air defence systems up to the hypersonic standard requires hardware and software upgrades. Increased autonomy plays a crucial role in minimising the time between the detection of an incoming hypersonic missile and firing an interceptor missile. However, we must not forget that technological advances take place in a multidimensional context. Legal, ethical, sociological and economic aspects, among others, must be considered during the design of new technology.
For a multidimensional problem, a multidisciplinary team is needed. Our academic careers are fundamentally different. Nathan is a student of the 174th Polytechnics (=Engineering) Promotion. With his knowledge of the exact sciences, he took care of the technical side of the research. Andreas is a pupil of the 158th Promotion in the Social and Military Sciences faculty. His curriculum consists of a broad spectrum of human sciences. This allowed him to analyse the impact of increasing autonomy in air defence systems on our society. As a team, we complemented each other perfectly. By bringing together the knowledge of both faculties, we outdid ourselves. This was the ‘secret’ ingredient for our victory.
Our cooperation was not easy. Andreas spent the second semester at the United States Military Academy of West Point. Because of this, we always had to take into account the six-hour time difference when scheduling a video call. Nathan was our spokesperson on the home front, liaising with the RMA professors. During our weekly video calls, there was always a short debriefing of our individual progress and of our professors’ input. Throughout the process, we were supported by both our academic and military staff. We would like to explicitly mention Colonel Johan Gallant, professor in the department of weapon systems and ballistics.
Next year another European Defence Challenge will be organised. We hope that our success story will motivate other students to sign up and experience for themselves that an inter-faculty & multi-disciplinary project is enriching in all aspects.
Eager to serve, willing to learn!
Andreas en Nathan
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