DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Ideation for Defence R&D in India: China’s Approach to Defence Innovation – Part II
Over the decades, India’s defense science, technology and industrial sector has by and large failed to deliver on the ground, barring a few notable successes. With the advent of highly sophisticated and disruptive military technologies such as AI & robotics, quantum, nano and hypersonic technologies on the 21st Century battlespace, the challenge of revitalising India’s defense industry is becoming an increasingly uphill task. This is the second in a series of articles written with the aim of suggesting structural reforms to India’s R&D enterprise. This piece (the second of two parts) analyses the Chinese approach to defence innovation and identifies features which could perhaps be usefully adopted in the Indian context. It is in continuation to “China’s Approach to Defence Innovation – Part I”, which covered the background, CMI integration strategy and national S&T development plans.
Ideation for Defence R&D in India: China’s Approach to Defence Innovation – Part I
Over the decades, India’s defense science, technology and industrial sector has by and large failed to deliver on the ground, barring a few notable successes. With the advent of highly sophisticated and disruptive military technologies such as AI & robotics, quantum, nano and hypersonic technologies on the 21st Century battlespace, the challenge of revitalising India’s defense industry is becoming an increasingly uphill task. The uninspiring performance of our DSTI sector has been a matter of much debate over the years, and despite honest past efforts by the Government to energize it, there has been little discernible improvement. This is the second in a series of articles written with the aim of suggesting structural reforms to India’s R&D enterprise. In the previous piece, several features of the US R&D ecosystem were identified which could perhaps be usefully adopted in the Indian context. This article (in two parts) carries out a similar review for China.
Ideation for Defence R&D in India – The US Approach to Defence Innovation
Over the decades, India’s defense science, technology and industrial sector has by and large failed to deliver on the ground, barring a few notable successes. The uninspiring performance by India so far in indigenising defence technology is only expected to worsen in the coming with the advent of highly sophisticated and disruptive military technologies on the 21st century battlespace. Much has been written over the years on bringing about transformative changes to India’s military industrial complex. The current series of articles is another effort in the same direction, but with a difference: this work adopts an introspective approach from the standpoint of the Defence Services, based on the conviction that the main impediments to bringing about the desired transformative change are to be found within the Services. In this first article of the series, the R&D eco-system of the US is reviewed, with the aim of identifying features which may be adapted usefully in the Indian context. Subsequent write-ups will carry out a similar analysis for other countries which lead the race in military technologies, notably China. The series will culminate by suggesting structural changes to the Indian defence R&D set-up, with focus on initiatives to be taken by the Defence Services.
China’s Digital Silk Road: National Security Implications for India
An important element of China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), the Digital Silk Road (DSR) is a comprehensive response to the Third Offset Strategy of the US and aims to establish China as a global technological superpower. Although projected by the Chinese Government as a global development project, the real objectives of the BRI and its components such as the DSR are essentially geopolitical in nature. The e-commerce aspect of the DSR strategy aims to increase the economic inter-dependence between China and participating states, and leverage these dependencies for achieving the status of an economic superpower. China’s promotion of cyber-sovereignty as the preferred model of cyber governance facilitates the furtherance of its authoritarian ideology among participating states. Indeed, the DSR is one of the more potent elements of China’s BRI in pursuit of its strategic objective of replacing the United States as the dominant world power. Although India has resisted the BRI and refused to participate in the physical infrastructure projects, it has unwittingly become a participant in the DSR initiative, thus exposing itself to the associated vulnerabilities. This work analysis the various features and pitfalls of China’s DSR and its national security implications for India.
Disruptive Military Technologies: An Overview – Part III
Over the last several decades, technology breakthroughs have been occurring at a very fast pace, with transformative effects on the nature of warfighting. The first two parts of this three-part series have reviewed the status of global research on technologies which are likely to have maximum impact on warfare over the coming decades. It has also emerged that, while India has taken some steps towards leveraging these technologies for enhancing our comprehensive military power, these are not commensurate with our geopolitical aspirations. Existing studies on rejuvenating our weak military industrial complex have mainly focused on measures which need to be taken by the Government, the DRDO, the Industry and the Academia. In this concluding part, we explore an introspective approach for the Armed Forces, based on the conviction that the primary hurdles to realising a vibrant defence R&D model exist within the Armed Forces, and can be largely overcome through internal re-structuring.
Disruptive Military Technologies: An Overview – Part II
This three-part series on disruptive military technologies attempts to examine whether India is sufficiently geared up to leverage these technologies in pursuance of our national security goals. In the previous part, a classification of disruptive military technologies based on their expected impact on future warfare was presented, and four key technologies were shortlisted for further analysis. Thereafter, a brief look was taken on the global R&D status of AI & robotics and quantum technologies. This part gives out the status of global research for nano and hypersonic weapons technologies, and the efforts being made by India towards their development.
Disruptive Military Technologies: An Overview – Part I
Cutting edge technologies whose manifestation on the battlefield is expected to have a significant impact on the nature of warfare, are often referred to as disruptive military technologies. At this point in time, potentially disruptive technologies include ICT, IW, AI & robotics, quantum, nano and hypersonic weapons, amongst several others. The impact of some of these technologies on the 21st Century battlespace is expected to be very profound, and may even revolutionise warfare. This three-part series attempts to examine whether India is sufficiently geared up to leverage these technologies for building up our comprehensive military power in tune with our geopolitical aspirations. In Part I, a classification of disruptive military technologies based on their expected degree of impact on warfare is first presented. Thereafter, a brief look is taken on the global R&D status of AI & robotics and quantum technologies, as also the initiatives being taken by India in these areas.
Artificial Intelligence in Military Operations: An Overview – Part II
This is the second of a two-part article which focuses on development and fielding of LAWS against the backdrop of rapid advances in the field of AI. Here, international as well as Indian perspectives are given out on the current status and future prospects for development and deployment of LAWS. This part reviews the status of AI technology in India, assesses the current capability of the Indian Army (IA) to adapt to this technology, and suggest steps which need to be taken on priority to ensure that Indian defence forces keep pace with other advanced armies in the race to usher in a new AI-triggered Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA).
Artificial Intelligence in Military Operations: An Overview – Part I
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies hold great promise for facilitating military decisions, minimizing human causalities and enhancing the combat potential of forces. This is especially true in a wartime environment, when data availability is high, decision periods are short, and decision effectiveness is an absolute necessity. This two-part article focuses on development and fielding of LAWS against the backdrop of rapid advances in the field of AI, and its relevance to the Indian security scenario. This first part reviews the status of AI technology, gives a broad overview of the possible military applications of this technology and brings out the main legal and ethical issues involved in the current ongoing debate on development of LAWS.