Innovation Management in Defensive Organizations

Innovation Management in Defensive Organizations

Emerging and Disruptive Technologies in 21st Century Warfare: An Analysis of Profound Shifts in Strategies and the Balance of Power

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Abdollah Vosoghi 1
Hasan Eisvand 2
Mehrdad Eskandari 3
1 -Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Shahid Sattari University of Aeronautical Sciences and Technology, Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor of Aerospace Faculty, Shahid Sattari Aeronautical University, Tehran, Iran.
3 PhD student in Military Strategic Management, National Defense University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/qjimdo.2025.501889.1734
Abstract
Background & Purpose: Disruptive is a term used to describe technologies, strategies, or ideas that fundamentally change a system, order, industry, or traditional method. In the context of warfare, disruptive technologies can drastically change the balance of power and transform the way war is conducted. The present study aims to examine the implications of the impact of emerging technologies in creating the most profound disruptive changes in 21st century warfare and seeks to identify the dimensions of this disruption.
Methodology: The research method is interpretive analysis. The required information was collected using various types of data such as texts and interviews in several stages until a complete and comprehensive census of the implications was obtained. In this research, the theoretical sampling method was used. A list of contributions was compiled according to the frequency and number of citations to each contribution and relying on the opinions of ten available experts in the field of defense technology and research, their validity was determined and the implications were finalized.
Findings: Analysis of the research data showed that the disruptive drivers in the 21st century include multi-level strategic competition, climate change, demographic change, and emerging technologies, and serious and clear contributions (key ideas) were also presented for the disruptive implications of emerging technologies in 21st century warfare.
Conclusion: The profound changes in strategies and balance of power in 21st century warfare is rooted in recent developments, the intense occurrence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the start of disruptive activity of emerging technologies (or the Fifth Technological Revolution). The depth of these changes and their strategic importance are so great that they can be considered to shape the main dimensions of 21st century warfare.
Keywords
Emerging
disruptive technologies
21st century warfare
profound transformations

Subjects

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