Extended Reality in Defence: Applications, Opportunities and Challenges

Extended reality (XR) first hit the news in the early nineties. Back then, its potential seemed limited to the games sector but its renaissance twenty years later revealed a host of new applications such as product design, training, architecture and, perhaps most significantly, medical treatment and diagnosis.  Defence was another obvious candidate particularly given the current geopolitical situation.

Applications

One of the most developed applications of XR in defence is training and simulation. It is after all essentially computer games technology and many games have a combat setting (such as flight simulators and first-person shooters) so applying them to training as well as recreation was an obvious next step. It is also cheaper and safer. Realistic immersive packages have also proved invaluable in training personnel for field medicine, winning “hearts and minds” and crowd control and AI is playing an increasing role in creating sophisticated and responsive environments.

In real operational situations, XR also enhances mission planning and situational awareness. AR systems can overlay battlefield data—such as terrain features, troop positions (both on the user’s side and the enemy’s) or intelligence feeds—directly into a soldier’s field of view. This improves decision-making and in fast-moving environments. Of course, sometimes the benefit of these uses is hampered by practical considerations; a combatant weighed down by sometimes cumbersome hardware with a battery life and the danger of data overload via an AR headset, may find combat effectiveness impeded rather than enhanced.

Intellectual Property and Procurement Considerations

Defence customers, especially primes and defence ministries, will always want to see robust rights over technology developed under contract, including rights to use, modify, and share systems with allies. Their expectations will often be much higher than their counterparts in civilian collaborations which means that suppliers (especially SMEs) must balance protecting core assets with meeting contractual requirements that may demand wide licensing or even assignment of rights. For smaller subcontractors, integration of licensed rights with larger prime head-contractors could dilute ownership or limit future commercial exploitation and security classifications and restrictions on dissemination can constrain the ability to reuse or commercialise defence-developed innovations in civilian markets, making the technology “dual use” in name but not in practice.  

Linked with this point, defence procurement in the UK and other countries is governed by detailed regulations designed to ensure transparency, competition and value. However, these processes can be slow, bureaucratic and difficult to navigate, especially for newcomers. The news is full of projects that overran, went over budget and then eventually delivered a solution that didn’t work or was (by then) out of date.

Large defence primes tend to dominate the market and smaller XR companies used to an agile computer games market may struggle to supply customers directly and are often required to partner with these prime contractors, which can limit control over intellectual property and result in protracted and complex negotiations.

For that reason, the MOD has introduced initiatives such as the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and innovation hubs to encourage SME participation. While these are positive developments, scaling from pilot projects to large contracts remains challenging and a complete overhaul and streamlining of defence procurement is probably what is required.

Cybersecurity Considerations

Cybersecurity is inevitably a huge concern in the deployment of XR technologies within defence environments. XR systems often rely on interconnected hardware, cloud-based processing, real-time data feeds, and sometimes AI-driven analytics, all of which make them vulnerable. If compromised, such systems could expose sensitive operational data, training scenarios, the location of personnel or even real-time battlefield information. In addition, an effective cyber-attack could turn sophisticated hardware and software into useless junk. Companies entering this space must therefore design with product and supply chain security in mind to a much higher standard such as is now recommended by the UK’s Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP). 

Conclusion

One can also add navigating export control and dual use regulations to the challenges summarised above, not to mention the difficulties of obtaining funding. The MOD has introduced initiatives such as the Defence and Security Accelerator and defence innovation hubs are emerging but many banks and investors still shy away from the sector for ESG reasons. Companies are also often unaware of the range of grant funding schemes that could be applied to defence innovation. The challenges are therefore significant but given the difference XR technology can make on the increasingly high-tech battlefield, harnessing them is a must.