Tech driving geo-politics, national security like never before: Rajnath
Wellington: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said technology was driving geopolitics and national security like never before and observed that traditional notions of warfare are being rewritten.
The power of technological innovation in combat theatres is “breathtaking”, he said in his address at the convocation ceremony of the 80th course of the Defence Service Staff College (DSSC) here.
“Technology today is driving geopolitics and national security like never before. AI and the emerging basket of technologies – robotics, military autonomy, dronery, quantum, block chain, space, cyber, electronics, additive manufacturing and the like, are revolutionizing deterrence and war fighting in critical ways. Warfare is moving rapidly, beyond the traditional domains of land, sea, and air, to space, cyber, the undersea and newer domains of creative endeavor,” he said.
“Dronery, for instance, has emerged in Ukraine-Russia conflict, virtually as a new arm, if not a transformative science. The majority of losses of soldiers and equipment have been attributed neither to traditional artillery nor to armour but to drones. Space capacities in the Low Earth Orbit, similarly, are transforming military intelligence, persistent surveillance, positioning, targeting and communications – thus taking combat to a new high. The power of technological innovation in combat theatres is breathtaking indeed,” Singh said.
He further said the ongoing conflicts and contemporary trends highlight the fact that the traditional notions of warfare are being rewritten.
“Emerging technologies are impacting the character of war with unmanned systems and advent of AI forecasting, an era of Autonomous Warfare. Warfare today has gone beyond the traditional battlefields of land, sea, and air. Armed forces will increasingly need to operate jointly in a multi-domain environment where cyber, space, and information warfare will be as potent as conventional operations.
“We are in the age of Grey Zone and Hybrid warfare where Cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns, and economic warfare have become tools that can prosecute and achieve politico-military aims without a single shot being fired,” he said.
“In our case, we face persistent threats along our northern and western borders. This is further compounded by the threat of proxy war and terrorism emanating from the epicenter of terrorism in our neighbor-hood. Ongoing conflict in West Asia and the geo-political tensions in the Indo Pacific to our East have their impact on our overall security calculus. In addition, capability to address non-traditional security threats to include natural disasters and climate change effects are increasingly becoming important,” he said.
