Rapid understanding of the scope and nature of a biological attack is a core capability, one that is essential to limiting the attack’s impact and to protecting warfighters. That understanding enables timely implementation of protective measures to minimise exposure and supports the deployment of medical countermeasures days before symptoms appear. Despite the clear benefits of early threat awareness, no single technology can provide comprehensive characterisation of all biological threats in a fielded environment.
Biological threats can be delivered through aerosols, water supplies, or entomological vectors, and a variety of other dispersal methods. They also encompass a wide range of naturally occurring bacteria, viruses, and toxins. The emergence of technologies such as synthetic biology and artificial intelligence further increases the complexity of the threat landscape by enabling the development of engineered biological agents with tailored capabilities.
Addressing this challenge requires a systems approach that integrates multiple methods for detecting, identifying, and characterising biological threats. Each technology contributes unique strengths across different threat types and delivery methods, collectively providing the breadth and resilience needed to rapidly characterise biological threats and minimise the effects of an attack. In biological defence, this system-of-systems approach is a foundational element of integrated layered defence.
Thinking in layers
The concept of layered defence (sensing) is well illustrated by a simple analogy: imagine a stack of Swiss cheese. A single slice has holes in it. Place a second slice behind it and some of those holes are covered. Add a third and a fourth, and eventually there are no clear paths through. Together, the multiple layers provide comprehensive coverage.
Biological threat understanding works in a similar way because there is no single technology that provides timely understanding for all biological threats and delivery routes. Wastewater surveillance technologies, for example, provide a valuable indicator of biological activity at a population level, but do so days after exposure and without any individual-level information. Similarly, physiological monitors provide early indication of threat exposure regardless of how it was delivered, but do not provide sufficient fidelity to begin medical countermeasures without corroborating data from complementary technologies.
Where the threat lands
Consider three environments that illustrate the breadth of the biological threat challenge:
A NATO forward operating base, positioned close to a contested front line, is a concentration of personnel, equipment and command capability. It is also a fixed, known location, visible to adversary intelligence. A biological aerosol release upwind of that base, delivered by a drone or a dispersal device, could affect dozens, or hundreds, of personnel before anyone is aware an event has occurred. Continuous environmental monitoring, with multiple detection nodes covering the perimeter and approaches, provides the earliest possible warning of a biological threat and a validated indicator that at least a preliminary response (i.e. aerosol collection and analysis) is warranted.
A naval task group operating in coastal waters represents a different but equally significant vulnerability. Ships are enclosed environments with complex air handling systems. An aerosolised biological agent introduced into a vessel's air intake can affect crew rapidly and silently. The USS Theodore Roosevelt, during COVID, demonstrated the operational consequences of a biological event at sea – a carrier group rendered ineffective, not by enemy action, but by a pathogen moving through an enclosed population.
A major transport hub, an international airport, a rail terminal, a port – all sit at the intersection of the military and civilian threat landscapes. They are the entry points through which biological agents, whether deliberately released or inadvertently carried, enter national territory and begin to spread. Portable, deployable detection systems in these environments serve both the national security and the civil security mission simultaneously.
Three environments. Three different threats. One common requirement – early detection.
Matched to every environment
Chemring Sensors and Electronic Systems (CSES) has developed detection technology specifically matched to these operational environments. For high-value fixed assets, naval platforms and critical infrastructure, continuous and selective bioaerosol monitors provide the level of performance that these environments demand. For forward-edge deployment, drone integration or high-traffic civilian environments, smaller, portable and cost-effective systems deliver the volume and flexibility that those contexts require.
The same core detection technology, rigorously tested and validated by the US military to the most demanding standards in the world, underpins every form factor, from semi-fixed installations to units small enough to be integrated onto small, unmanned platforms. What changes is the packaging, i.e. ruggedised and configured to suit the situation. Tell us the environment you need to protect, and we will build a system that fits it.
From first alert to informed response
The sequence of an effective biological defence response begins long before any identification of a specific agent. The first task is simply to know that something is wrong.
A biological aerosol detector positioned around a base, a facility or a transport hub monitors the environment continuously. When biological aerosols are present at the detector, the system triggers an alert. At that point, a commander knows three things: something has happened, roughly where it happened, and that a sample needs to be (or has been) collected for further analysis. Contrast this level of threat awareness with a scenario where the first indication of a biological attack is days afterwards, when warfighter symptoms first appear.
With that alert, a chain of protective actions becomes possible. Personnel can be moved. Protective equipment can be deployed. Contaminated areas can be isolated. Medical countermeasures can be prepared. The identification analysis that follows determines exactly what biological threat was released. Critically, CSES detection systems are designed to be modular and agnostic – our collection component is compatible with a wide range of identification technologies from other suppliers. Operators are not, therefore, locked into a single ecosystem.
The capability gap that cannot wait
NATO's own CBRN Defence Policy is clear that capability gaps in biological defence represent a genuine strategic vulnerability for the Alliance. The good news is that closing this gap does not require new technology to be developed or lengthy acquisition cycles. The capability exists today – proven, deployed and ready to integrate into existing force structures with minimal disruption.
Ben Atkinson is a senior defence expert at Chemring Sensors and Electronic Systems (CSES), which develops and manufactures biological detection systems for military and security customers worldwide. CSES will be demonstrating its detection capabilities at Eurosatory 2026, Stand D345, Hall 5A. Arrange a meeting: chemring.com/media/events/eurosatory-26
References
NATO's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defence Policy, 2022: https://www.nato.int/en/about-us/official-texts-and-resources/official-texts/2022/06/14/natos-chemical-biological-radiological-and-nuclear-cbrn-defence-policy