Metasurface in the era of War of machines, part 1

Finnish reservists, myself included,  and the professionals of the Finnish Defence Forces have spent decades learning how to defend Finland. The threat scenario has always been the same: an enemy attacking from the East must be stopped.

However, the scenarios we have trained for, large mechanized offensives and conventional ground force warfare, can now most likely be forgotten.

Technology is disrupting warfare across all domains, from land and sea to air and space. The scenario that is already reality in Ukraine is the one that we, together with our NATO allies, must now fully adapt to.

A war of machines.

As Jyri Kosola, retired engineer colonel and former Director of Research at the Finnish Defence Forces, outlines in his book War of Machines (Koneiden sota, 2026), startups and companies developing defence and dual-use technologies must guide their development while recognizing the following realities:

1. Warfare is becoming machine-versus-machine, requiring these technologies to be produced at massive scale and at low manufacturing cost.
2. Sensor networks are making the battlefield transparent.
3. Control of the electromagnetic spectrum is a prerequisite for all operations.
4. Decisions will increasingly be made through algorithms and artificial intelligence at speeds beyond human capability.

Metaktik’s metasurface-based antennas and defence products built on top of them are designed to answer these needs.

• Thin-film technology enables high-volume manufacturing with low production costs.
• Conformal antennas reduce platform RCS, while energy-efficient operation and simpler electronics lower thermal footprint, making platforms harder for the enemy to detect and track.
• Metasurface antennas enable more precise control of electromagnetic radiation than any previous antenna technology, minimizing also spectral footprint. 
• Metasurface antennas enable robust and jam-resistant communication links for reliable transfer of large sensor data volumes in contested environments. 
• Metasurface antennas are reinventing radar solutions. High-definition situational awareness can be achieved with affordable and lightweight radar systems.

In this article, together with CTO Ville Lundén, I take a closer look at the benefits of lightweight antennas and how thin-film technology enables high manufacturing volumes and low unit costs. 

I recommend downloading and reading the full article through the link below.