Lethal Autonomy

A broad and thorough coverage of the future of warfare across all military domains—including space and cyberspace—that presents a clear, compelling, and well supported description of how lethal autonomous platforms will transform warfare.

The proliferation of the use of drones in the Russia-Ukraine conflict provides some indication of how warfare is changing, but Lethal Autonomy: The Future of Warfare goes much further, presenting compelling descriptions of how artificial intelligence and autonomous weaponry are going to transform conventional warfare, rendering current militaries almost entirely obsolete.

Beginning with a description of the attributes that have characterized advances in military technology and impacted operational concepts and organizations, Frank Kendall discusses the features that matter in warfare and the analytical basis for assessing new concepts. For each traditional military domain ground, sea surface, sea subsurface, and air as well as for space, cyberspace and multi-domain operations, he provides a detailed description of the concepts, building blocks, and complexities that have to be considered in designing forces incorporating lethal autonomy.

Frank Kendall is a former Secretary of the Air Force and former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. He previously served as the Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Tactical Warfare Programs. He led the Air Force and Space Force response to the growing threat of China’s military modernization program. Outside of government, Frank has served as the Vice President of Engineering for Raytheon and as a member of the board of directors of Leidos.

He has worked on a pro bono basis as a human rights lawyer and is an avid ocean racing sailor. He is a graduate of West Point with advanced degrees from the California Institute of Technology, Long Island University, and Georgetown University Law Center. Frank has received the Defense Distinguished Public Service Award from five Secretaries of Defense and the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award as a member of the Senior Executive Service.