The main focus of the Ministry of Defense remains the rearmament of the armed forces, said Stanimir Georgiev

The main focus of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) remains the rearmament of the armed forces, a process related to the acquisition of conventional weapons platforms. This was said by the Deputy Minister of Defense Stanimir Georgiev during a round table “Application of affordable technologies and products with a large asymmetric effect in modern conflicts”. Added to them, new technologies and generally available products with an asymmetric effect will play the role of a multiplier. According to him, this approach is not in doubt because of the critical backlog of rearmament, which has been underfunded in the last 30 years.
Developing a realistic defense investment program up to 2032, commensurate with the security environment and available resources, will be critical for rearmament. It envisages the acquisition of unmanned aerial systems and upgrading, and more rational use of funds for scientific and development activities. In this regard, we are discussing the possibilities for industrial cooperation with Bulgarian companies and technology transfer, including to Bulgarian academic and research institutions on the part of the executors of large investment projects.
Two sub-themes stand out in the theme of today’s forum – on the importance and potential of technology to shape and change a given war, and on symmetrical and asymmetrical strategies. What we know from the general theory of strategy is that war is a duel and strategy is always applied against an independent opposing force. Any opportunity a belligerent can use to gain an advantage is welcome, but there is no single right type of strategy, because every war must be fought with a strategy that is most appropriate. Strategy is an unchanging human activity of thought and behavior set in a changing dynamic context, he added.
Improved or even entirely new weapons are not enough to bring about revolutionary change. Instead, ideas about their use by the armed forces, combined with the potential of the new technology, are the main driver of radical military and strategic development. At the same time, the importance of the potential of technology to shape and change the conflict is limited by the very complexity of the strategy, which means that the technological deficit of the belligerent, most likely of a temporary nature, would find compensation in superiority in other characteristics of the so-called . grand strategy.
The task of the technologically inferior strategist is to seek to change the military conflict so that the relative advantage of the machines is reduced. According to Georgiev, it is most obvious that such a strategist would try to avoid the usual style of battle, where the technological advantage should bring maximum benefit to its holder.
A prediction can certainly be made that war is expected to adapt or be adapted to whatever changes technology, economics and social and political mores offer us in the future, Georgiev added. It is important for us not to lag behind these processes – these trends require increased efficiency from the armed forces to adapt existing doctrines and concepts to emerging technologies and capacity to develop new ones, require increased productivity from industry, availability of adequate human resources in defense and in industry, availability of more joint mechanisms for the development of innovations in the defense and civil industries. This is also the reason why NATO and the EU have launched a number of initiatives in the field of defense industry development and are actively working with public and private partners, academic and research organizations with a view to maintaining NATO’s technological advantage through innovation. NATO’s latest initiatives in this direction from 2021 are the Emerging and Critical Technologies Strategy, the establishment of the Diana Defense Innovation Accelerator and the Multinational Innovation Fund.
The Ministry of Defense pays significant attention to emerging defense technologies and innovations. Within the framework of the existing initiatives of NATO and the EU for innovation, the ministry provides support to Bulgarian companies applying for the first call of the accelerator. The test center of the Institute of Defense and the new test center of the Naval School will provide an opportunity to test technologies emerging in the civilian sector , for their defensive adaptation.
Drones are currently entering the battlefield by land, air and water. In the initial stages of any conflict is the element of surprise, which, combined with non-standard widely available and cheap civilian technologies for autonomous navigation, gives an initial advantage to one or the other opponent with a large asymmetric effect in terms of damage compared to the cost of achieving it. The more unprepared the adversary is for this non-standard use of these technologies, the greater their effect. This effect, although sometimes significant, is not permanent because these readily available and cheap technologies are quickly countered. The legal assessment of the effects of asymmetric strategies requires the development of strategic thinking.
The forum, which was opened by President Rumen Radev, was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Defense, educational institutions that prepare personnel in the field of national security, as well as Bulgarian companies from the field of defense industry. The event is organized by the presidential institution.