# High-Tech Defense Industries: Developing Autonomous Intelligent Systems
## 1 Introduction  
Advances in intelligent defense systems are growing and paving the way for high technological defense industries. Technologies such as robotics [1, 2], artificial intelligence [3], and the internet of things [4] are driving considerable changes and impacts on defense industries [5]. These technologies are known to be capable of developing autonomous intelligent systems, increasingly designed for military applications and capable of operating efficiently in conflict areas and war zones. Thus, technology is often considered to be the key to many military revolutions in history, the so-called major military innovations or, as others have named, radical change in military affairs [6]. Three main factors are driving the latest revolution in military affairs: (1) rapid technological advancements that moved the Industrial Age into the Information Age; (2) the end of the Cold War; and (3) the decline in United States defense budgets [7]. In recent years, we have identified several studies on the development of autonomous defense systems in the industry sector. Some examples are presented in [PERSON] et al. [8],who focus on studying autonomous defense systems and relevant technological applications (e.g., X47-B, Predator, Global Hawk). However, apart from the division of warfare applications, to the best of our knowledge, no article has so far made a characterization of the autonomous defense systems literature in modes. That said, our intention is to explore and understand the following two research questions:  
Research Question 1. How can the several modes of autonomous defense systems in the defense industry be categorized? Research Question 2. How does the characterization of the autonomous defense systems modes contribute to making the defense industry highly technological? Considering these research questions, it is quite evident that this research aims to understand and describe a real-life phenomenon, as suggested by [PERSON] [9]. Although the research is of a qualitative and descriptive nature, it falls within the domain of applied sciences since it aims to identify the existing gaps and fill these gaps by initiating new scientific research in robotics and artificial intelligence applications at the various levels of war. It would seem, thus, inappropriate to carry out a more in-depth study to improve the high-tech defense industry without first knowing the holistic view of the use of autonomous defense systems. This topic is important since there has been an exponential investment in autonomous intelligent systems in the military sector [5]. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no prior characterization of the modes of operations of these systems. In that regard, our article provides a comprehensive characterization of autonomous intelligent systems according to the various levels of war and different types of decisions and artificial intelligence. In addition to presenting a characterization of the various modes of autonomous intelligent systems in the defense industry, this article also characterizes how these modes contribute to making the defense industry highly technological. The novelty of this article is associated with the need to increase the degree of intelligent automation at the lowest levels of war. The need for automation is justified by the argument that, at the tactical/operational level, the military follows clear orders and makes structured decisions. Therefore, if structured decisions are made at the tactical level, which requires the performance of tasks of an analytical-cognitive nature, the type of intelligence needed is mechanical, thus, justifying the replacement of military personnel by machines, creating an excellent opportunity for the technological defense industries. On the other hand, at the strategic level of war, there is limited scope for the use of lethal autonomous weapon systems, given the need for human intervention, so as not to run into the current United Nations ethical, moral, and legal guidelines.