Colonel George Doerty heads the innovation implementation directorate at the U.S. Air Force’s Combat Systems Directorate. His work involves integrating surveillance, reconnaissance, command, and strike assets into a single coherent system — more than 50 government programs in total — to ensure the coordinated operation of the U.S. Air and Space Forces. And he is impressed by how Ukrainians are repelling the Russians.
George Doerty’s video address to Ukrainian readers
Para Bellum series curator, Ukrainian historian Volodymyr Viatrovych, noted that George Doerty analyzes the war not only vertically — sky, atmospheric littoral, ground — but also horizontally, chronologically, showing how technology has transformed it since the Napoleonic wars.
He notes that the unmanned and robotic systems popular today were already being developed during the First World War. But since the prototypes were too expensive and unsuitable for scaling, they were regarded as an extravagant whim. It is only recently, as these technologies became cheaper and accessible for large-scale use, that they began to be taken seriously. For specialists, this paradigm shift became especially evident after the events of 2020 in Nagorno-Karabakh, when Bayraktars and Israeli loitering munitions sharply changed the balance of forces on the battlefield.
Viatrovych added that the book bursts the illusory bubble of security that Western civilizations have built around themselves. In the context of the development of artificial intelligence (AI), this carries considerable significance:
«Doerty says it outright: if democratic countries do not become leaders in AI, authoritarian regimes such as China or Russia will become the leaders instead.»
This could have fatal consequences, since technology is merely a tool, and the real “beast in the machine” is the human being. Without democratic and values-based constraints, this tool can become a serious threat to freedom. Western civilizations need to recognize this.
«Freedom is secure only where people are prepared to fight for it,» — emphasized Para Bellum series curator Volodymyr Viatrovych.
Dmytro Rudenko, Director of Development at the “Nash Format” publishing house, presenting the book, noted that it can be read as a textbook on contemporary military technologies:
«Speaking of the book’s technical substance, it addresses four cross-cutting ideas: a new level of lethality, the growing role of the atmospheric littoral, “artificial stupidity” as a consequence of irresponsible use of technology, and an asymmetric defense system (the so-called strategic dino-porcupine).»
Doerty concludes: hope that high-tech weaponry would reduce casualties has not been justified. On the contrary, the battlefield has become deadlier. After all, a single high-tech munition is worth more than hundreds or even thousands of low-cost ones.
The atmospheric littoral is the space in which drones fly. It lies above the ground, where infantry and equipment operate, but below aviation. And if it used to be possible to hide from the enemy, now the details one holds mean far more than the atmospheric littoral does.
«Artificial stupidity» is a discussion of whether technology can independently make decisions about the taking of life. The author draws attention to the shortage of military lawyers, on whom such practice will depend.
Doerty proposed the “strategic dino-porcupine” as a model for Ukraine’s asymmetric defense system, based on the experience of Ukrainian resistance from the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion. When relatively inexpensive but effective Javelins and NLAWs — new-generation anti-tank guided missiles — were used for initial defense. These and other similar systems can be used as the dino-porcupine’s quills, to keep the enemy at a distance.
Ukraine Against Russia as David Against Goliath
The presentation was attended by Yuriy Kyrylov, co-founder of the Weapons Development and Innovation Unit (PRIO) at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy. Before mobilization, he worked on implementing technological solutions for business and carried that experience into the military. For example, PRIO developed the training VR film “First Battle” for mobilized soldiers, in which, using augmented/virtual reality glasses, a person is fully immersed in the atmosphere of the battlefield and then practices behavior in various situations step by step.
Kyrylov noted that although technology is developing rapidly, works such as “The Beast in the Machine” allow one to zoom out and see the general trends. The book is genuinely not futuristic — its forecasts are grounded in entirely real examples that are already changing the character of war.
The fact that Ukrainian experience is at the center of these examples reflects a tendency-defining shift in how Ukraine is perceived by international partners:
«Earlier Ukraine was perceived as a third-world country, and us as natives incapable of inventing anything ourselves. Now we have become, for the world, David striking Goliath,» — explained Kyrylov.
The Para Bellum series is meant to build readers’ immunity to manipulation or blackmail, — said Yaryna Yasynievych, program director at the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation. She emphasized that understanding the real state of affairs helps a person build an inner core strong enough to withstand external pressure. And that pressure will continue as long as Russia does not collapse as a modern-day empire and return to its historically justified borders.
«Si vis pacem, para bellum — “If you want peace, prepare for war,” says the Latin saying. That is why we named the series Para Bellum, as a call to this readiness. As long as Russia remains our neighbor, this will be our normal state,» — said Yaryna Yasynievych.
“Ukraine is at the epicenter of the largest war in Europe since World War II. We did not choose it, but we can become stronger and ready for future challenges. The Para Bellum series from the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation and Nash Format is about how technologies and decisions are changing war, and wars are changing civilizations. It will publish world bestsellers and books by Ukrainian authors. Because our experience is already changing the world’s understanding of war and victory,” — said program director and series initiator Yaryna Yasynievych.
Yaryna Yasynievych also announced the series’ next book — “The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam” by Barbara Tuchman.
