This is the right time to get ready for a future where Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be assigned a leading responsibility in military operations or warfare. The progress in AI will bring around new potential in defence technology. By taking advantage of Artificial Intelligence in military operations the potentials of fighting a war can be improved besides developing the performance of military units. Many nations worldwide are incorporating AI to enhance the performance of defence forces.
Inaugurating the first ever Artificial Intelligence in Defence (AIDef) symposium and exhibition in the capital recently, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that “India needs to work on the artificial intelligence mechanism ‘extremely carefully’ and it must be ready to face a legal, ethical, political, and economic upheaval that may follow due to this technology.”
Cautioning that AI needs to be done carefully so that the technology does not get out of control in the near future, he asked the industry, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), DPSUs, academia, as well as those involved in developing such technologies to be careful and to also keep in mind the AI’s ethics and dangers.
Stating that the progress of artificial intelligence cannot be stopped, he said “when a new technology brings a huge change, its transition period is also as huge and serious.” He said that this technology can bring in huge change and there is a need to be ready to face political, economic upheaval as well as legal and ethical fallouts. He said the society takes time to adjust itself when a new technology comes. The defence sector is undergoing changes due to AI, as AI is also being used to train the soldiers.
A prediction had been made by a study centre that AI would change the features of defence technology as did aircraft, nuclear weapons and computers. AI is becoming a necessity to ensure the security of the future and becoming essential for a nation to shape up the defence technologies to maintain authority above prospective adversaries. Artificial Intelligence has the ability to put together all the collected data from various sensors and satellites and submit conclusions. This can further enable the defence personnel to make decisions on related actions to be taken.
As of now, to detect mines under water ships equipped with sonar are used commonly. But with the advancement of AI, submersible boat or craft can be powered with AI to detect mines. The time for detecting mines would be faster. It would inspect the object, identify it and formulate a necessary decision. Military robots having artificial intelligence can be able to undertake operation or tasks all by themselves and thus save human lives. The count of unmanned vehicles like aircraft and battle tanks will surely grow. This will facilitate in making decisions faster, lessen the expenses and take away an officer from risks involved. To provide better targeting potential some of the combat vehicles, used in land, would be using AI along with Machine Learning. AI can assist a drone to take off and land without being handled by human and can even carry out its operation.
Drawing lessons from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Indian Armed Forces are pushing for adoption of new technologies. From focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Quantum Labs, Industry 4.0, Machine Learning, Neural Networks and Deep Learning algorithms, Robotics and much more are gradually being introduced and adopted to ensure that the Indian forces are more tech savvy and geared to meet new threats and ready for future wars.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) under the aegis of UDAAN (Unit for Digitisation, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Application Networking) has inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence at Air Force Station Rajokri, New Delhi. It plans to undertake proactive steps to embed Industry 4.0 and Artificial Intelligence (Al) based technologies in its war fighting processes. These applications are being developed in-house and in coordination with leading academia, MSMEs, PSUs who have expertise in AI.
The Indian Air Force became the first among the services to establish a dedicated centre of excellence for artificial intelligence. In the context of military modernization, such digital tools are radically redefining the technological elements and such gaps are widely discussed. Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing supply logistics, intelligence gathering, sensors and military robots through the application as commonly known as the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT).
Since the Sino-Indian clash in Galwan in June 2020, Indian Army has been making conscious efforts to incorporate latest technology in the service and has been focusing on setting up Quantum Computing Labs, Real-time application of artificial intelligence in border areas; robotic surveillance platforms, 5G communications, air defence systems which are backed by augmented reality, automated drone detection systems and unmanned combat units for tank formations and more. All these new technologies are being adopted to ensure that the enemy is not able to hack into encrypted data.
The Task Force of Ministry of Defence headed by N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, recommended a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore to be provided each year for next five years in Defence Budget to support AI activities. The Committee suggested organising AI training courses for all defence personnel, integrating and embedding AI strategy with defence strategy ,creation of a framework to work with industry and, establishment of a high-level Defence AI Council (DAIC) and a Defence AI Project Agency (DAIPA).
AI application is also playing crucial role in developing anti-combat drone solutions. In a recent development, a US Start-up Epirus has developed Leonidas, a technology that can disable a hostile drone while leaving a friendly drone a few feet distant unharmed. Using super-dense Gallium Nitride power amplifiers and based on the AI algorithms, Leonidas uses direct energy to precise frequencies which can take out both large fixed-wing drones and small quadcopters.
Besides, IAF has been pioneering AI in area of aircraft maintenance. IAF has substantially digitised its fleets onto the electronic maintenance management systems as also digitized the entire inventory management system which works on AI-based formulation to come out with predictive maintenance or predictive threat scenarios or red flags.
AI is not just a tactical advantage but has become a necessity. China, US, Russia and many other nations are already investing heavily in AI. The need for the big data to train and test combat systems will be required. The data collection, assimilation and analysis together will drive the AI for the next generation. Integrating AI in military strategies will be the cornerstone of the defence sector. AI is the only way to navigate through this new paradigm of warfare.
– The writer is a senior journalist and media consultant. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
