Battlefield transparency and powerful, precise modern weapons have jointly created a \u201czone of death\u201d along the frontline where approaching the enemy is \u201cvery, very dangerous,\u201d Baratz said at an innovation day held by the French 7th Armored Brigade in eastern France last week. In terms of new technology, what the Army needs most is a way to break the resulting tactical stalemate, he said.<\/p>\n
Maneuver along the Ukrainian frontline has largely stalled as near-continuous drone observation means neither Ukraine nor Russia can mass forces without exposing them to destruction. Baratz compared the situation to World War I, when artillery and machine guns meant maneuver and offensive operations could be futile or only possible at the cost of enormous casualties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a system of tactical stalemate, where defensive systems are more powerful than offensive ones,\u201d Baratz said on the sidelines of an innovation day in Besan\u00e7on on Sept. 9. \u201cWe need to be able to break out of this system. So today, we have to be able to recreate what we call a bit of opacity in this world of transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baratz said there are \u201ca great number of ways\u201d to think about deception, including physical decoys and electromagnetic deception using simulated command posts. The innovation day featured inflatable copies of equipment used by the 7th Armored Brigade, including a Caesar howitzer and the VBL light armored vehicle.<\/p>\n The commander also noted the importance of electromagnetic jamming, and of electronic warfare and cyber warfare as forces become increasingly connected.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can we blind the adversary? How do we mislead him about our intentions? How can we create a temporary vulnerability with the adversary to restore momentum and offensive action,\u201d Baratz said.<\/p>\n \u201cAbove all, how do we deceive his sensors or ensure that his sensors don\u2019t see the right things, allowing the concentration of force? Because today, we can\u2019t concentrate if we\u2019re destroyed, and so there isn\u2019t the mass necessary to be able to throw the adversary off balance.\u201d<\/p>\n Other technologies that could reshape the battlefield include quantum technology, both for secure communications as well as for sensing, according to Baratz.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also multi-spectral image analysis that is starting to allow us to see what\u2019s under trees, what\u2019s under cover,\u201d the general said. \u201cThere are new technologies, often driven by artificial intelligence, that provide capabilities we couldn\u2019t have imagined until now.\u201d<\/p>\n With the pace of technological change in some areas now measured in weeks rather than years or months, that creates difficulties for the military, according to Baratz. He cited telecommunications, where the military is \u201clagging far behind\u201d the civilian sector in terms of bandwidth and data transmission capacity, even as the modern battlefield is organized around data.<\/p>\n The general said the military may be on the brink of a revolution in warfare similar to that of 1920, when mechanization and radio communications accelerated the pace of maneuver. The growing use of data on the battlefield may ultimately speed up both decision-making and destruction of the adversary, Baratz said.<\/p>\n Baratz said the modern battlefield has \u201cradically changed\u201d from the past, when military tactics were ultimately organized around geography, \u201cthat is to say the ridge line that defined the field of fire or field of view.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo how do we reinvent ourselves tactically?\u201d Baratz said. \u201cAt the time, we French didn\u2019t really reinvent ourselves, and we paid the price in 1940.\u201d<\/p>\n Baratz said innovation has become an element of operational superiority for armies, and the ability to continuously adapt systems and incorporate new technology is fundamental.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/KKRHAPMR4JF5JH4EPGXY7CI45I.jpg\")