Why India Needs a Future force?

Synopsis: Like the US, India also needs to build a future force for future wars.

Introduction

War, at its core, is organized violence, waged for political purposes. The real purpose is domination. But the definition of wars changed rapidly. To tackle it, countries need to build a future force. India also needs to build such a future force.

Definition of War in older and modern times

Earlier wars were easy to define. One could know whether a country is at war or at peace. Further, people and security forces knew with whom they are fighting and at which front.

However, war today is practically impossible to define, due to its unpredictability and contactless nature. Military theorist Carl von Clausewitz stated that war is practically limitless in variety(Military, cyber, etc).

So, making the armed forces of a state future-ready is important.

What is future force?

It is a branch force equipped with new manned and unmanned vehicles. This force is linked by a fast and flexible battlefield network for yielding better results in warfare.

Future Forces will radically use technologies such as nanotechnology powered armours etc.

Future force at US

In 2014, the US announced a Third Offset Strategy. This strategy consists of a certain important vision towards the future force. This includes steps such as,

1. Developing cutting-edge technology in defence such as robotics, big data analytics etc. These technologies are aimed towards providing autonomous learning systems, collaborative decision-making between humans and machines, network-enabled autonomous weapons etc.
2. Exploration of new concepts for utilizing such technology.
3. Retaining the best human resources to achieve peace globally.

Why India need a Future force?

India at present recognize the war of older times and neglect the modern war. There are many anonymous threats bypassing Indian frontiers without challenging national sovereignty. For that India needs to build a future force.

Suggestions to build Future force in India:

India also has to build a future force. To achieve that India needs to take important steps. Such as,

1. Master force-on-force concept: In India, the Chief of the Defence Staff is preparing the future force. He admits that ‘force on force’ concepts are difficult, but it is prerequisite for the future force.
   What is the force-on-force concept?
   Force-on-force refers to the scenario-based training in which the participants work against live role-playing opponents. For example, If a battalion is going for force-on-force training, then the battalion is divided into 2 teams. One will operate as a protecting team. The other will operate as a terrorist team.
   This training is most realistic to the actual scenario.
2. India needs to master the ‘hybridised effect’ of warfare. It means the influence of mixing up security forces for getting better results in warfare. At present India is adopting the hybridised effect. This is evident by the establishment of the Chief of the Defence Staff.
3. India needs a confluence of all the technology and the government needs to drive new strategies and tactics.
4. India needs to break the civilian-military silos. This means building a more positive relationship between civilians and the military.

By fulfilling these steps, India can build a better future force.

Source: The Hindu