26) Technical Surprise
Abstract
Technological advancements may always have potential implications to aspects of agent use, production, release, persistence and even toxicity/pathogenicity. On the other hand, technological advancements can provide us with better tools for protecting our warfighters against Chemical-Biological (CB) threats. Technical Surprise conducts a continuous review of newly published technologies (e.g., synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing, etc.) to identify areas of potential concern as well as those that can be utilized to improve our CB defenses. Technical Surprise efforts also develop capabilities to evaluate and assess technical enhancements that potentially alter the nature or magnitude of risk posed by a threat agent; reduce obstacles to threat use; or make threats more likely to survive being released, etc. Additionally, Technical Surprise identifies and assesses where technological advancements may have overcome operational, logistical or technological hurdles, thus increasing the impact of a formerly discounted potential threat.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2025
- Source ID
- b7c04ad1bf953e9b79daaffbd15b0642