FROM MUSKETS TO MICROCHIPS: RE IMAGINING INDIA’S MILITARY POWER IN THE ALGORITHMIC AGE

THE CONTEXT: Between 2022 and mid‑2025, three theatres of Russia‑Ukraine, Israel‑Gaza and the short India–Pakistan flare‑up (“Operation Sindoor”) have shown that cheap first‑person‑view drones, algorithmic target‑recommendation engines and hypersonic prototypes can tilt the local balance of power faster than armour or artillery ever did. The world therefore sits on the cusp of a second, far deeper Revolution in Military Affairs, one that fuses silicon, software and narrative manipulation.

 HISTORICAL ARC: FROM LINEAR BATTLEFIELDS TO MULTI‑DOMAIN CHAOS:

• • Classical Indian strategist Kautilya privileged Anvikshiki (inquiry) over brute force. Clausewitz later framed war as a “trinity” of people, government and army.
  • The first evidence of digitally‑enabled war appeared in Operation Desert Storm (1991), where satellite ISR married precision‑guided munitions; it cut coalition casualties to 378 and collapsed Iraqi defences in 43 days.
  • Three decades later, Russia‑Ukraine features remote‑piloted “kamikaze” drones that can destroy a main battle tank for under US$1 000, a 5000:1 cost ratio unknown in previous eras.

DRIVERS OF THE TRANSFORMATION:

• • Technological leaps: Autonomy, swarm logic, hypersonic glide vehicles, directed energy.
  • Geo‑economic churn: The Indo‑Pacific power shift forces mid‑tier states (Australia, India, South Korea) to weaponise supply chains.
  • Industrial democratisation: Additive manufacturing and dual‑use chips mean a start‑up can field a loitering munition in months.
  • Cognitive battlespace: Deep‑fake videos and micro‑targeted disinformation bypass traditional deterrence frameworks; India recorded 369 million malware detections in 2024 alone.
  • Climate‑security feedback: Every High‑Altitude Long‑Endurance (HALE) drone sortie roughly equals the annual per‑capita carbon footprint of a rural Indian household; critical‑mineral mining for batteries widens the Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) fault‑line in conflict zones.

MULTI‑DOMAIN WARFARE (MDW): CONCEPT AND REALITY:

• • MDW integrates Land, Sea, Air, Space, Cyber, Electromagnetic and Cognitive domains so seamlessly that the adversary’s observe–orient–decide–act loop collapses.
  • The United States codifies this in Joint All‑Domain Command and Control (JADC2); China calls it “Systems Confrontation and Systems Destruction Warfare”. India’s Draft Joint Doctrine 2024 echoes similar ideas but remains at consultation stage.

GLOBAL CASE STUDIES AND TAKE‑AWAYS:

INDIA’S CAPABILITY AUDIT:

• • Budget & industry: The 2025‑26 Union Budget assigns ₹6.81 lakh crore (US$81 bn) to defence, with a record ₹1.12 lakh crore ring‑fenced for indigenous procurement. Exports have already climbed to US$2.8 bn in FY 25 and aim for US$5.9 bn by 2030.
  • Platforms: India signed a 31‑unit MQ‑9B HALE drone deal with the United States, flight‑tested the Unitary Light Precision‑Guided Munition, Version 3 (ULPGM‑V3) drone‑launched missile in July 2025 and validated hypersonic scramjet tech through Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) ground tests. Yet, an indigenous HALE/MALE line and anti‑hypersonic defences are still embryonic.
  • Institutions: The Defence Cyber Agency is operational; theatre‑command reform remains stalled by inter‑service bargaining.
  • Human capital: There is a shortage of roughly 9000 AI/cyber specialists across the three Services; women form less than 12 % of the officer cadre.

KEY CHALLENGES FACING INDIA

• • Procurement lag: Average 40 months from Acceptance of Necessity to contract, double the technology half‑life.
  • Tech dependency: 70 % of critical semiconductors are imported; no 5 nm domestic fab yet operational.
  • Fragmented C2: Absence of a real‑time joint “mission cloud” keeps sensor‑to‑shooter latency at minutes, not seconds.
  • Cyber‑physical vulnerability: Legacy Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) at fuel depots and airbases susceptible to ransomware.
  • Ethical ambiguity: Lack of policy on autonomous engagement thresholds risks diplomatic blow‑back and domestic legal tussles.
  • Environmental blind spot: No carbon budget or rare‑earth recycling plan for military hardware.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• • Time‑boxed Defence Acquisition Procedure: Introduce a statutory 18‑month ceiling from Acceptance of Necessity to contract signature; embed blockchain‑based tender tracking for transparency.
  • UAV & Loitering‑Munition Corridors: Repurpose the Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridors into dedicated drone hubs with escrowed tri‑service procurement guarantees and an export fast‑lane.
  • Mission Command Cloud: Build a secure, indigenously hosted cloud (leveraging BharatNet fibre) that integrates ISR feeds, electronic order‑of‑battle and strike authorisation; target sub‑5‑second sensor‑to‑shooter cycle.
  • Hypersonic Shield: Fast‑track Ka‑band early‑warning radar arrays and kinetic interceptors under a DRDO–ISRO‑led consortium; synchronise with the BrahMos‑II glide‑vehicle timeline.
  • Digital‑Twin Logistics: Deploy IoT sensors across armoured and aviation fleets for predictive maintenance; aim for a 25 % downtime cut by 2028.
  • Space Situational Awareness Constellation: Launch a 50‑satellite small‑sat constellation under IN‑SPACe for resilient theatre‑ISR and debris avoidance.
  • Green Defence Code: Mandate life‑cycle carbon and rare‑earth accounting in all Requests for Proposal above ₹500 crore; link vendor payments to ESG milestones.
  • Counter‑Drone Mesh: Deploy AI‑enabled RF and electro‑optical jammer networks at 12 critical bases; integrate with civil aviation ATC to avoid fratricide.

THE CONCLUSION:

India must pivot from platform‑centric modernisation to data‑centric agility. By integrating indigenous R&D, ethical‑AI governance and resilient cyber‑infrastructure, the country can secure a decisive edge across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace, thereby safeguarding its aspiration of Viksit Bharat @ 2047.

UPSC PAST YEAR QUESTION:

Q. How does S-400 air defence system technically superior to any other system presently available in the world? 2021

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. Autonomous systems and multi‑domain integration are recasting the principles of deterrence and compellence. Examine with reference to recent conflicts.

SOURCE:

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/china-india-and-the-conflict-over-buddhism/article69843709.ece