On Emerging Technologies in Defence – A renewed focus on emerging technologies

Source: The post on Emerging Technologies in Defence has been created based on the article “A renewed focus on emerging technologies” published in “The Hindu” on 21st November 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 Internal Security – Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

News: The article discusses the initiatives taken by the Indian defence sector in the field of emerging technologies. It also highlights the various challenges in technology adoption and suggests reforms for the same.

What are Emerging Technologies?

Emerging Technologies include a variety of technologies such as information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, and artificial intelligence. They are characterized by novelty (in application and origins), relatively fast growth, prominent impact, and uncertainty.

In the military, it refers to capabilities that rely on a combination of cyber technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), unmanned systems, and advanced computing.

What are Indian Military’s initiatives regarding the utilisation of Emerging Technologies?

Army: The Army has identified 45 niche technologies in the field of military applications.

Air Force: Under UDAAN, Indian Air Force (IAF) is using AI, cyber and virtual reality to address its operational, logistical, and training needs.

Navy: Its initiatives include an Integrated Unmanned Roadmap and indigenisation.

Defence Ministry: Under ‘AIDef’, it has showcased its initiatives which include the Defence AI Council and the Defence AI Project Agency. These are aimed towards incorporating AI into various allied organisations, such as Defence PSUs and DRDO.

Apart from this, incorporation of drones, launching of communication satellites to improve its military communications capabilities and the establishing of the Defence Cyber Agency and the Defence Space Agency have been undertaken to address threats from new domains.

What are the issues?

There are still significant shortcomings in the military’s approach to this domain. These include:

1. Roadblocks in Technology Adoption: Technology adoption needs to be accompanied by organisational and doctrinal changes (related to principles, beliefs), which are missing currently.
2. Lack of Understanding of the Impact of Emerging Tech: Most accounts of the Russia-Ukraine war attest to the old-fashioned war tactics., which has led to some discrediting the importance of the use of emerging technologies in war.
3. Cooperation with Civilians Missing: Partnering with scientists, academics, technologists, entrepreneurs and the wider industry is also missing.
4. Lack of Interoperability between the 3 services: Interoperability between the 3services has remained mostly absent.
5. Preference to Generalists over Specialists: There is a need to revisit existing human resources practice of Indian military prioritising generalisation over specialisation. Specialised technology requires greater technical expertise.

What should be done to fully realise the potential of emerging technologies?

1. Consult External Specialists: The Defence Ministry should be more open to incorporating specialists (such as technocrats), if necessary, from the private sector and wider industry.
2. Provide opportunities to Civilians: Military must provide opportunities to civilians to work alongside the military as technology professionals. It needs to think creatively about the need for separate cadres to utilise these technologies.
3. Cooperation on Data Sharing: Both civilian defence organisations and the military need to be more open with sharing data, especially to fully realise the promise of AI.
4. Provide opportunities to Suitable Personnel: The services should provide opportunities for officers within the military intellectually inclined towards emerging technologies.

Question for practice:

Modern warfare has necessitated the modernisation of defence forces, which includes the adoption of emerging technologies. In light of this, discuss the various challenges and suggest reforms required to achieve the desired outcomes.