Innovations & technologies

Pentagon Launches New Push For Tunnel-Warfare Tech


As the war continued, ISIS’s use of tunnels evolved as a means to launch sneak attacks and collect intelligence with cheap drones.

Rukmini Callimachi, who covers ISIS for the New York Times, discussed the Islamic State’s reliance on tunneling with NPR’s Terry Gross back in March. “In all of the areas that I have visited, ISIS dug a complicated network of tunnels. And so what they’re able to do is they retreat inside the tunnels. And then from there, they’re able to send a drone up into the air. So they’re completely protected and unseen from our surveillance. And yet, they’re able to see,” Callimachi said.

Much of North Korea’s weapons development has also taken place underground and away from U.S. sensors, satellites, and spy planes. In 2015, South Korean military leaders said their neighbors to the north may have built 6,000 to 8,000 underground facilities in North Korea, including an 1,800-meter underground runway to launch planes.

“Underground settings are becoming increasingly relevant to global security and safety,” DARPA program manager Timothy Chung said in a taped segment announcing the challenge on Thursday. “Rising populations and urbanization are driving the demand to not only build up but also to build down…subterranean environments have remained an untapped domain in terms of developing breakthrough technologies for national security.” In other words, we need more tunnel tech — and as soon as possible.