The next major war will look nothing like the last one. Soldiers will still die. Cities will still burn. But the opening moves will be different.
Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview gave the world a preview of that reality this month. The model found exploitable vulnerabilities in every major operating system and browser some hiding for 27 years and built working attacks 83 percent of the time on the first attempt. It cracked the Linux kernel used in military drone ground stations. It broke into FreeBSD systems that run critical firewall infrastructure.
That capability once required a nation-state hacking team working for months. One can imagine the adversary already pre-positioned inside power grids, communications networks, satellite ground stations, and telecommunications infrastructure years before conflict starts. When hostilities begin, the lights go out. Fuel supplies freeze. Internet goes dark.
Also read: How Iran is Fighting Its Cyberwar: Top 5 Techniques
On the physical battlefield, the next step is intelligent swarm warfare. AI coordinates thousands of drones simultaneously, identifying targets and executing strikes without any pilots or human decision makers. The third battle front is inside people’s minds. In the recent US-Israel-Iran conflict, the Israeli Prime Minister had to release several videos just to prove he was alive.
Think about that. Just a few years ago you would have been presumed dead until you released a video. Now, even after you release a video you are still presumed to be dead because the narrative says so. Deepfakes are now indistinguishable from reality to the common social media consumer. Future wars will be decided before troops deploy.
The side that controls the networks, the swarms, the satellites, and the information environment will win. In such a world, nations must prioritize decentralization of command structures, energy, telecom, and other critical systems to build resilience. Distributed command networks prevent single-point failures from cascading collapses. Microgrids powered by localized renewable sources and small modular reactors ensure energy continuity even if main grids are compromised.
Mesh-based telecom networks with satellite backups and edge-computing nodes maintain connectivity without reliance on central towers. Redundant, AI-hardened data centers scattered across geographies reduce vulnerability to pre-positioned cyber intrusions. Autonomous local decision-making protocols empower field units to operate independently when central links are severed. These measures shift warfare from centralized targets to resilient, adaptive ecosystems, forcing adversaries to expend far greater resources for minimal gains while preserving operational continuity for defenders.
Nations must constantly simulate unexpected warfare scenarios to test and strengthen this resilience.
The article has been written by Kaushal Bheda, Director, Pelorus Technologies
