February 26, 2026

How to Adapt in an Era of Algorithm Warfare

By: Anne Neuberger

This article was originally published in Foreign Policy.

In the past, only major powers with billion-dollar budgets could strike a target with precision from a distance. Today, commercial technology has democratized precision strikes. A soldier can hunker down in a trench with a simple controller and, streaming video through a pair of goggles, steer a commercial drone with a $500 payload to disable or destroy a $5 million tank.

The barrier to entry for sophisticated, high-impact warfare is collapsing with the global availability of cheap, powerful, and adaptable commercial technology.

Such technology has reshaped modern warfare in recent years, making it easier and cheaper to attack and more difficult and expensive to defend. Soldiers now drop grenades from store-bought drones, commercial satellites sustain military communications, and radios popular with hobbyists can be used for drone detection and even signal jamming.

Read the full article in Foreign Policy.

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