Idea of war: The battlefields are changing

Source: The post is based on an article “Idea of war: The battlefields are changing” published in Business Standard on 12^th November 2022.

Syllabus: GS 3- Technology

Relevance: defence technologies

News:  The article discusses the need to adapt to advance defense technologies.

How has the battlefield changed?

The battlefield has seen the development of machine guns, tanks, anti-tanks and now the use of drones in the battlefields have changed the scenario.

Further, the latest warfare in the Ukraine has raised concerns and challenges on the future of large armoured formations, big battleships and manned fighter aircraft.

Why are the challenges?

The use of Advanced Technologies and weapons have made it difficult to stand in the war.

The Ukraine Russia war is a great example of it. Ukrainians have used defence technologies in the war against Russia and it made it difficult for the Russian army to fight the war.

They never get within the visual range of the Russian army and attack with the use of drone and satellite communication or by small guerrilla-like bands armed with American or British equipment.

This has made it difficult for the Russian Army to completely invade Ukraine.

This also shows Russia’s inability to adapt to the technology in its defence even though it saw drones earlier being used in the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Further, Missile technology has developed so much that big warships and any other defence assets will be vulnerable to the attacks.

The same applies to aircraft technologies. If advanced technologies are not adopted then it would be difficult to launch air attacks as it is being witnessed in the case of Russia.

Therefore, this shows that there is an urgent need to sync defense with the latest technology to withstand the attack from the opponent.