Digital twin modelling for combat and operational environments: predicting human performance, stress and resilience

Modern military and operational missions demand sustained performance under extreme physiological, cognitive and environmental stress. Soldiers, aviators and naval personnel experience dynamic interactions between fatigue, heat, dehydration, psychological load and injury risk, that is, conditions that evolve rapidly and are influenced by both individual and environmental factors. Despite the widespread use of wearables, physiological monitors and cognitive assessments, data remain fragmented and largely reactive. Digital twin technology is an adaptive computational model that mirrors and predicts the state of a real individual in real time and offers a transformative framework for proactive human performance and health management. Here, we outline the conceptual foundation, data architecture and operational roadmap for developing digital twins tailored to military personnel. By integrating multimodal physiological, cognitive and environmental data, digital twins could forecast performance degradation, stress injury or medical emergencies before they occur, enabling personalised countermeasures and mission-level decision support. Such systems would move defence health from observation to prediction, enhancing resilience, readiness and safety in complex operational theatres.