Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing have been considered significant in the military due to their spatial ity in nature . In this study , the descriptive -analytical method was used to illustrate the applications of GIS in military operations , drawing lessons from land based military developments from selected studies . Recent military developments have seen various military institutions depending on reliable and accurate spatial mapping tools, for the purpose of Command, Control, Communication and Coordination in military operations. The study notes that h igh resolution satellite data and or drone technology integrated with machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI), have been utilized in the military for a variety of applications including cartography, terrain analysis, intelligence collection and dissemination, object recognition , safeguarding military vital installations, as well as historical construction . The integration of GIS machine learning and AI is of significance to the military planning and deployment, as the understanding of landscape is useful in determining strategic positions in the battle ground in real -time. The study recommends the need to train military personnel in geosp atial techniques and ensure proper deployment, for fruitful military operations . Key Words GIS and Remote Sensing , Military operations , Artificial Intelligence, Drone technology 2 1. Introduction In the recent decades, military developments have often seen various military institutions around the globe depending on reliable and accurate spatial mapping tools, in order to take quick decisions for operational orders during military operations [1], [2]. The use of GIS applications in military has revolu tionized the way in which the entity function . Geospatial technologies have prompted military organizations to utilize spatial data in attaining dominance in military power , and the art of acquiring information in real or near real -time allow military forces to dominate and take control of the war [3], [4]. GIS applications essential for military operations are discussed in this study and they include route network analysis and terrain analysis, as well as GIS integration with machine learning artificial intelligence (AI) applications for object detection, information sharing and dissemination. The purpose of this paper is to present fundamental issues related to modern development in military GIS, with focus on prospects and challenges. The study’s focus is on ground -based GIS military operations and the adoption of AI in the military. 2. Geospa tial Technology and Military Operations This section discusses the concept and functions of geospatial technology and its integration with military operations . 2.1 GIS and Remote Sensing Various military institutions have invested in GIS in order to unde rstand the enemy location, location of community settlements, and terrain evaluation and climatic conditions in addition to directional data [5], [6]. GIS are systems designed to store, manage and display spatial data and aid in the analysis and interpretation of such data [7]. Various data sets can be overlaid (figure 1), allowing spatial analysis to be performed on socio -economic and environmental data, in order to understand implications of various land uses on national security. 3 Figure 1: Overlaid datasets [8]. Theref ore, digitization of maps within the GIS framework, presents military personnel with many visual benefits, ranging from battlefield simulation, military briefing and planning, information sharing and command control [9]. 2.2 GIS Components The main comp onents of GIS ( figure 2 ) include: the o rganization , GIS professional, data, software, hardware and output. In the context of this study, the military organization utilizes the expertise of GIS professionals to obtain and analyze spatial and attribute data with the aid of hardware and GIS software. The output consists of GIS generated reports, tracking decision making and planning course of action. GIS software consist of open source and proprietary (licensed ), with QGIS and ArcGIS being commonly used, respectively. The application of these GIS tools are discussed in section 4.2 . 4 Figure 2: GIS Components [10]. 3. Materials and Methods The research was conducted in 2023, and descriptive analysis and qualitati ve interpretation of recent developments in military GIS and associated threats. The research provided the opportunity to assess paradigm shifts in the application of GIS and remote sensing in military operations, including the integration of AI and its im plications to national security. 4. GIS Application in Military Operations This section discusses various GIS applications in military operations which include; spatial data storage and visualizations, use of GIS applications, spatial analysis techniques, historical construction, 4.1 Spatial Data Storage and Visualizations Spatial data visualization is vital as it allow field commanders to control battle with the aid of a map or photograph [3]. A spatial database integrated with GIS supports command requirements to specify an authorized map for operational reasons. GIS and its l ink with spatial databases such as Postgres SQL can be used to store spatial and non-spatial military data, allowing efficient manage military resources and tasks. Data include location of armory at military bases, records of military operations, costs of operations, thereby providing an effective way to store institutional knowledge, as well as modelling capabilities for analyzing alternative military strategies. Spatial data storage and visualization is also crucial in military logistics management. Ther efore, GIS plays an important role in military logistics such as moving supplies, equipment and troops where they are needed at the right time and place [4]. By using GIS to computing routes for convoys in spatial databases, forces are able to determine an d map alternative routes. 5 4.2 Use of Open Source and Proprietary GIS Applications in Military In a developing countries, licenses for a registered GIS software, vendor -exclusive training and the bureaucracy of the procurement cycle add to the time and co sts of a mission [11]. In a study conducted to evaluate the use of an open source desktop GIS product, QGIS, for a military operation other than war [11], QGIS outputs were compared to those computed in ArcGIS, a proprietary desktop GIS product developed by ESRI, widely used in military operations. The results of the study showed that the QGIS was cost effective and data outputs provided the operational commanders with similar information to plan and execute a mission successfully. Thus an open source GIS is also suitable for some military operations including those with limited funding such as disaster or risk mapping. In another study on the analysis of the possibilities of automated data visualization of topographic spatial database with open source GIS servers, [3] utilized a Vector Map Level 2 (VML2) which corresponded to a Military Topographic Map in a scale of 1:50 000, and data visualization was performed by developing relevant scripts. The study found that GIS servers (Mapserver and Geoserver) pres ented map symbols from analogue map correctly in more than 90% of cases. In terms of time taken to generate the map Geoserver had significant advantage over Mapserver in nearly all cases. Another study was conducted to promote common understanding among stakeholders and design a GIS framework for defense [9]. The system comprised of input data, migrator, operational core, solver, output bus, geoportal and external accessory. Though the application is still under development, it already has features such a s tracing routes and identifying troop access. 4.3 Spatial Analysis Techniques in Military Operations Though t here are various spatial analysis techniques which aid in planning military operations , this study’s focus is mainly on “terrain analysis ”, which is essential in land based military operations , allowing military field commanders to consider elevation data for the movement of military tanks and other weapons [11]. Commonly applied models of terrain are models of surface terrain based on raster data and digital models based on the TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network) data structures [12]. Elevation data obtained from satellites in form of Digital Elevation Models (DEM) are also essential for battle planning [1] given that when such data is computed in GIS framework , it generate contour maps, hydrological maps, allowing comprehensive analysis of the battle ground. A study conducted on the importance of GIS in topographic support to all levels of military command, as well as developing a GIS framework t o support decision making fo r the Republic of Kazakhstan [13], noted that GIS contributed to better combat control of troops and armament , as well as costs reduction while generating geospatial 6 data. In modern warfare, a comprehensive map with information on land use, terrain and accessibility to habitat are essential for military operations [1]. These maps can be generated by utilizing GIS topographic algorithms such as terrain ruggedness index (TRI) and topographic Wetness index (TWI) [14], [15] , which ca n help military operatives to familiarize with the phenomenon of the enemy’s territory. For accuracy purposes, both topographic ground maps and digital maps must be available to field commanders as any discrepancy may endanger the whole operation, thereby enhancing the military’s tactical, operational and strategic decisions. Therefore, information embedded in GIS software allows commanders and field soldiers to measure shortest distances between certain points fo r maneuvering purposes [16]. Furthermore, sp atial analysis techniques in GIS such as hot spot analysis, buffering and spatial statistics help to obtain a comprehensive analysis of specific regions of interests on quasi real -time, or in real time in cases of information display in web map application s. 4.4 Military Historical C onstruction GIS has been used to support military historical reconstruction with focus on the defense line around Budapest in the Second World War [17]. This task was achieved by collecting archive maps, aerials photographs, as well as field measurements, among other data, and was manag ed in standard system with GIS for the reconstruction of contemporary environment, defense object and military events. The database act as a reference system for further researches and to identif y new parts of the defense line. Further studies on new achievements in WWII military historical reconstruction with GIS [5], saw the reconstruction of the two major World War II defense lines, Attila and Margit in Hungary. The methods allow for various spatial and attribute queries to be performed, as well as animation possibilities wh ich could be useful. 4.5 Modern Military Warfare Research has shown that the emergence of hybrid or modern warfare in recent decades has been enhanced through the adoption of modern geospatial technologies [2], [18], [19] . For instance, GIS is able to answers to questions relating to the location of an object or certain type of objects, and their surroundings. GIS technology assist military management and field forces with readily available data. In most developed countries r emote sensing technology has been utilized by military intelligence to acquire data on enemy ’s camp , taking note of activities from satellites in space (Majumdar, 2021) . High-resolution satellite data has been used to monitor the changes in land use and terrain near international borders for national security purposes [18], [13]. The role of geospatial technologies in modern military warfare has also been examined utilizing remote sensing, GIS, Global Po sitioning S ystem (GPS) , Big Data and locational intelligence to present solutions to geographic 7 problems [19]. Study findings show that effective geospatial technologies enhance military operations against various forms of criminality and insurgencies. 4.5.1 Drone Technology in Military Operations In the era of new technology for collecting intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones have emerged as tools for collecting high resoluti on data from enemy’s territory and necessary information for reconnaissance purposes . A study has been conducted to present a model of a system supported by GIS for computers, command, control, communications, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) in collaboration with drones for military purposes [4]. Similar study further notes that drone application supported by GIS, C5ISR (command, control, computers, communications, cyber -defense, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ) and AI would give significant advantage on the ground [4]. Therefore, integration of human intelligence with access to information and target zone , provide decisive advantage in the battlefield. Use of d rone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) applications in military GIS on the mountainous terrain of Azerbaijan Republic can help to generate orthomosaics and 3D models for terrain and combat control [20]. In another study, a Convolution Neural Network (CNN) was trained on UAV -based minefield data [6], generating a model which could identify the PFM -1 anti -personnel mine from a drone survey with 91.8% accuracy, providing de-miners with field maps with identified mine locations. 4.5.2 UAV Cluster and Machine Learning Algorithms In an effort to improve defense and security, advances in data analytics and machine learning methods of significance in military operations, turning geospatial imagery and data into accurate and actionable intelligence [21]. Recent developments in drone t echnology has seen the adoption of UAV sw arm sur veillance or UAV cluster becoming significant in modern warfare surveillance and disaster rescuing . The result from the study on U AV swarm surveillance based on hierarchical a rchite cture [22], showed that the decentralized UAV structure outperformed the centralized structure, especially on maintaining the stability of inner UAV swarm network, while tracking moving objects. Figure 3 below is an illustration of the drone cluster network . 8 Figure 3: Fire detection using drone cluster network [22]. Recent ly, geospatial technologies have embraced Internet of Things (IoT) in the field of various intelligence services and applications. IoT is the network of connected devices using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), and the technology that facilitates communication between the devices themselves [22]. In pursuit of such developments, UAV swarm or clustering has become a significant form of current UAV combat applications, commonly known for improving the performance of large -scale UAV clusters through the use of different clustering algorithms for integration purposes [23]. 5. Discussion The study notes that in addition to maps, photographs and documents used by troops, creating a military GIS system and its integration with AI, taking note of positional accuracy of information a s one of the most important functions of GIS. Remote sensing applications ass ociated with satellite imagery and UAV object detection to understand and interpret terrain, is important in determining how troops can be deployed timely in an effective way [1], [24] . Literature obtained in this study reveal that the u nderstanding of landscape allows military leader s to determine strategic positions for scouting enemy activities , suitable line of fire and the ability to hide troops and equipment. Research also show that military developments across the globe have been revolutionized by AI integrating with GIS, drone technology and machine learning . In response to challenges associated with modern warfare, the implementation of geospatial solutions using machine and AI, achieved through automation of GIS processes, help to identify and extr act objects of interest from vast quantities of imagery in real -time [9], [19] . This would allow military commanders and ground troops to compare emerging information against historical data. 9 6. Conclusion and Recommendations The study notes that utilizing AI through remote ly sensed data, machine learning algorithms , combined with field data, would provide a comprehensive analysis of ground situation in military operations. However, the GIS system with its incredible technical capabilities, is stil l inadequately implemented in the military sphere, particularly in developing countries. The results of this theoretical research stimulates the development of a model for GIS military and for monitoring information space of the security sector. In pursui t of some developments in AI, international cooperation is needed to mitigate associated security risks, as well as to exploit on the technology’s potential to transform military functions and operations. Mitigating the risks associated with AI, is likely to determine the future of GIS applications in the military. Therefore in order to enhance the efficiency of monitoring of security situation in the country , it is necessary to improve the models of information monitoring in national security. Declaration of competing i nterest Author declares that no known financial and non -financial competing interests in any material discussed in this paper. Funding No funding has been availed to conduct this research. Data Availability Statement All releva nt data is included in the paper. 10