Germany Tests 30 AI Tools to Speed Battlefield Decisions by 2027

Germany's armed forces are assessing 30 artificial intelligence tools designed to accelerate decision-making on the battlefield, with a prototype targeted for the second quarter of 2027 and full implementation expected in 2028.

Vice Admiral Thomas Daum, who heads the military's cyber command, said the evaluation is still under way and expressed confidence that a working prototype would be ready within that timeframe. He did not specify which tools were being considered.

The push reflects lessons drawn from the war in Ukraine, where drones and satellites generate enormous volumes of data. That flow has made the battlefield more transparent than ever, while creating a need for AI to process information at speeds humans cannot match.

Most of the tools under review come from German companies, with French firm ChapsVision among the few foreign contenders.

Daum has for now ruled out buying the Maven Smart System, the best-known tool of its kind, developed by U.S. data analytics and defence software company Palantir. The system is already used by the U.S. military, NATO commands and several allies to analyse battlefield data, including images and video, to improve situational awareness and speed up decisions.

Resistance to Palantir in parts of Europe has been driven by concerns over dependence on the United States and data sovereignty, amid perceptions that Washington could be an unreliable ally after President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to leave NATO.