Emerging Technology's Threat to Nuclear Assets

TOPIC SPONSOR: AFGSC/A2

Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence has the potential to disrupt traditional concepts of operation involving nuclear assets, especially bombers. What capabilities and intent do adversaries possess to utilize advanced technologies to hold AFGSC assets at increased risk?

• Bergin, Capt. Connor T., "Beyond Brinksmanship: How Evolving Nuclear Deterrence Endangers Strategic Stability," AFGC thesis, 2025, 43 pgs. 
  • Bergin answers this by detailing how disruptive capabilities—such as AI-enabled targeting, persistent ISR, hypersonic weapons, and low-cost drone swarms—threaten the survivability of second-strike nuclear forces like bombers and ballistic missile submarines. He highlights the severe danger of "entanglement," where dual-use early warning and command-and-control systems blur the line between conventional and nuclear operations, vastly compressing decision-making timelines and risking inadvertent escalation. To preserve stability against these technological threats, Bergin recommends augmenting physical hardening with counter-drone and counter-hypersonic defenses, deception tactics, and the development of conventional-only command and control systems separated from nuclear networks.