Special operations forces will have a unique role in countering that threat\u2014training Ukrainian forces, exercising with partner forces in the Philippines, countering Russian influence in Africa\u2014even as they face planned and proposed cuts in\u00a0aircraft\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0operations<\/a>, including in\u00a0critical areas like information and influence warfare.<\/a><\/p>\n Fenton didn\u2019t address the cuts but he pointed out that demands for special operations forces are growing while resources are not.<\/p>\n \u201cOur national-level leadership told us SOCOM and our assigned missions\u2026will be needed three times more in this decisive decade. In fact, the demand for [special operations forces] to support strategic competition has increased year over year by over 30% and crisis response events have increased 150%,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n SOF elements are already leaning heavily into artificial intelligence, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some ways it could change the character of war in such a way where you know some smaller element will absolutely have what a larger element doesn’t have [in] capability, knowledge, insight,\u201d he said, adding that such an asymmetric advantage could, \u201cmaybe change the balance in a David-Goliath way that Malcolm Gladwell and others have talked about, and we would be able to see it in our personal lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n SOCOM will use AI in many ways, said Lisa Sanders, the command\u2019s director of science and technology.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can use AI to understand when a warfighter is becoming cognitively overloaded, or prepare information in such a way that it’s most effectively tailored to a particular person. So that’s AI for warfighter performance. You can use AI to optimize your waveform to be able to work in a contested environment. You can use AI to help with precision information for targeting, which would get out space awareness. So when we use AI, it is a tool, not an end,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Lt. Col. Tosh Lancaster, the program manager for SOF Lethality, described several new capabilities that SOCOM is looking to procure in the near future. Some are simply more advanced versions of current weapons, such as a sniper rifle that can hit targets 2,500 meters away, or what is called a \u201ctactical precision missile.\u201d<\/p>\n