Executive Summary

We assess that insect-enabled espionage, the use of real or robotic insects for intelligence purposes, is a rapidly evolving technology that has the potential to enhance intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. Specifically, this can be important in environments that drones and other conventional means cannot access. While potentially useful for search and rescue (SAR) missions, the efforts to create insect cyborgs that appear virtually indistinguishable from the purely “organic” counterparts opens opportunities for covert surveillance and plausible deniability.

That said, yet unresolved technical challenges currently prevent a widespread operational adoption beyond trials and experimental stages.

Image/s Sourced From: Hirotaka Sato