Scholars Projects

Employment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Tactical Level – Brig Pawan Bhardwaj, YSM

Future battlefields will seek employment of AI and it has potential to decouple traditional combat ratios. It has wide military applications, provided the tactician and the technology managers come together and create workable tools for the future. The officer believes future battlefields are predictable and hence the demands for AI tools should also be well thought, graduated and specific in nature, very different from the AI development elsewhere in the world. Though restricted to tactical level in the context of the Indian Army, the research will include immediate correlation with counter-terrorist and counter-infiltration operations. It will also reflect upon some sharing possibilities with the sister services. It will conduct mini case studies of militarily excitable countries only viz USA, Russia, UK, Australia, China, Turkey, France, and Germany. Availability of AI to Non State Actors will also be studied. The understanding of technology curve and synergy between the user and developer will build intra organisational confidence and improve delivery of correct and viable AI tools. The research also intends to assist military to realign its training objectives and operational concepts. Though there is sufficient literature on both AI and Military AI, the tacticians avoid reading highly technical ones and technology managers dodge typically military ones. This research aims to bridge the gap between tacticians, desires and technology managers; capabilities to permit immersive development and successful AI utilisation. With an attempt to delineate the actuality from fiction, and intends to become a guidebook for the entire ecosystem.

Realising the aim of Atma Nirbhar Bharat in Defence Sector - Gp Capt Saminjay Kumar

Defence production within India is experiencing a tremendous change to accomplish self-reliance in defence technology. India has the potential to emerge as a global platform for defence research, manufacturing, supply chain sourcing, software development, and offsets, which will strengthen our defence capabilities and spur industrial development in this sector. Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat are the program aimed in providing direction and momentum to the country’s objective to become self-reliant. MoD in 2018 initiated Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) wherein, the Government recognised the requirement to enhance innovation and technology by engaging the private sector, big players, start-ups, individual innovators or academia. Government is now promoting Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and constantly amending policies on indigenisation. Reforms in Govt policies are now encouraging MSMEs and amendments to Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) is a progressive step in this direction. In spite of the policies, India is still depending on foreign countries for defence goods. This may necessitate a relook on the procurement policies in vogue. There is a need to answer primary question –Are there any gap in the extant polices for achieving National Objective of self-reliance in Defence? There may be gaps between what is promised and what comes on the plate. These gaps need to be bridged for an effective and responsive ecosystem for iDEX, Make in India Projects etc. in Defence Sector. IAF is supporting Atmanirbhar Bharat and more than 8000 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Defence sectors are trying to survive by piggy banking on bigger players, wherever possible. The objective of the study is to formulate methodology to encourage MSMEs and enhance the areas in indigenisation.

Emergence of Disruptive Technologies and their impact on Future Battlefields – Col Maneesh Parthsarthy, VSM

In an era of rapid technological advancements, the world is witnessing the emergence of disruptive technologies that are revolutionising various sectors, including defense and warfare. These disruptive technologies, characterised by their transformative nature and ability to reshape existing paradigms, have the potential to significantly impact the future battlefields. As a result, it is imperative for defense establishments to thoroughly understand these technologies, anticipate their implications and develop effective strategies to leverage their advantages while mitigating their risks. Traditionally, military strategies and operations have been shaped by conventional technologies and well-established doctrines. However, recent years have witnessed the rapid proliferation of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, cyber warfare, unmanned vehicles, advanced weaponry and others. These technologies have the potential to disrupt and transform the very nature of warfare, challenging traditional concepts and reshaping the dynamics of conflict. The rise of disruptive technologies has been driven by various factors, including advancements in computing power, miniaturisation of sensors, increased connectivity, and breakthroughs in fields such as machine learning and robotics. These advancements have enabled the development of intelligent systems, autonomous platforms and novel weapons that possess unprecedented capabilities, ranging from enhanced situational awareness and precision targeting to unmanned operations and cyber dominance. As disruptive technologies continue to evolve and find their way into military applications, it is crucial for defense establishments and policymakers to comprehend their potential impact on future battlefields. The implications of these technologies go beyond traditional military operations, affecting strategic decision-making, force structure, operational doctrines and the overall national security landscape. Understanding their significance is of paramount importance to ensure the preparedness, effectiveness and resilience of defense forces in the face of evolving threats and challenges. The aim of this research paper is to analyse the emergence of disruptive technologies and their potential impact on future battlefields. The study will explore the challenges and opportunities presented by these technologies and propose a framework for effectively absorbing as well as responding to them.

Enhancing Offensive Cyber Capability at National Level – Col Suraksh Vir

Wars and Nations challenges are no longer limited to military domain. The advancement of IT and Digitisation in all spheres has brought critical elements to vulnerability and exploitation by self and adversary in furthering National aims. The field of cyber offense/defense includes all the activities to protect ourselves and our IT assets against attack and at the identical time denying/ disrupting the same for the adversary. Partnerships with interagency, interagency, intelligence community, academia, industry and allies are critical to our success in and through cyberspace. Cyberspace threats grow and change exponentially, and standard acquisition and equipping processes will not meet current demands. Thus there is an urgent need to integrate synergies and coordinate the disjointed organisations, people, policies and processes in furtherance to common aim of enhancing Offensive Cyber Capability/Response at National Level.

Civil-Military Fusion - A Way Ahead in Building Infrastructure along Northern Borders – Col Vijay Kumar Goyat, Senior Research Fellow

It has been repeatedly seen that infrastructure which is created to meet military requirements can also act as a strong booster to harness economic potential of the region besides accruing strategic military advantages. Thus, civil military fusion is an essential pre requisite for the development of infrastructure along the northern borders. This will enable synergy in infra creation and optimum utilization of defence funds, while at the same time it will truly enhance the economic potential of the Border States. Thus, there is a need to identify such critical strategic infrastructure and identify measures to achieve civil military coordination in the long run.

Salience of Social Media in Hybrid Ops – Col Dheeraj Kumar, Senior Research Fellow

Future battle space would be extremely complex, multi-dimensional, and non-traditional in both kinetic and non-kinetic form. Based on the study of recent conflicts, it may be inferred that future competitions and conflicts would occur in ‘VUCA Environment’ encompassing exploitation of myriad instruments of power to wrest control over the battle space and attain competitive edge over the adversaries. In the contemporary scenario, the world has witnessed involvement of all types of instruments of power and state & non-state actors in Ukraine-Russia conflict racing to seize physical, cognitive, economical and cyber battle spaces in a hybrid environment. In Indian context, the security establishments have been contesting the adversarial forces prosecuting their nefarious designs in kinetic and non-kinetic domains. Thus, the emerging scenario merits that Security Forces align their tactics & strategies to changing character of modern warfare i.e. Hybrid Warfare. Some common tools and tactics of hybrid warfare include Information operations, Cyber-attacks, Political Subversion, Conventional military actions, proxy forces, and economic & political subversion. Recent trends have revealed social media being exploited extensively to further the objectives of hybrid wars. Evidently, owing to its wider access, affordability and ambiguous nature, the social media emerges as an effective tool which would have relevance in all stages of hybrid conflict scenario. Social Media has proved to be a powerful tool in modern-day warfare, to spread propaganda, disinformation and manipulate public opinion so as to destabilize societies. The major incidents include 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Arab Spring revolution of 2010, Yemen Crisis, Doklam Standoff in 2017, Ukraine Crisis and US Presidential Election of 2016. It is imperative to undertake a holistic study to assess the potential of social media as an effective tool under the ambit of hybrid operations to shape the opinion of target population and achieve the operational objectives. This research aims to discern the emerging trends of exploitation of social media in perception management, narrative building & influencing the decision making of stake holders and recommend measures to counter threats posed by social media to national security in hybrid threat scenario.