The Kargil War, an armed conflict, was deceitfully waged by Pakistan at extreme high altitudes ranging from 15,000 to 18,000 feet in the Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir. The courageous Indian soldiers engaged Pakistani forces masquerading as intruders, having breached the Line of Control into the Indian territory.
This fierce struggle endured from May 8, 1999, to July 26, 1999, culminated in India’s triumph as it successfully repelled the Pakistani Army. The operation was courageous and costly. India lost 527 brave soldiers, many in direct frontal assaults on enemy positions dug into mountain crests. It was a war of grit, of blood, and of close combat at over 18,000 feet.
But what if that war had happened not in 1999, but today? What would be the outcome of the Indian reaction to the Kargil infiltration, if it had the benefit of real-time satellite mapping, drones, loitering ammo, precision guided cruise missiles and manned-unmanned teaming with AI?
The geography same, the stakes same, but the force application and character of the operation would have changed. The Kargil in 2025 would not only entail maintaining ground, but also control information, space, warfare facilitated by AIs, battle of precise mass, and the electromagnetic spectrum, and employing the least force with the maximum impact.
The First Advantage: No Surprise, No Delay
Back in 1999, the initial Pakistani intrusions went undetected for weeks. Patrols had reported unusual activity, but the sheer remoteness and complexity of the terrain delayed verification. Reconnaissance relied heavily on human patrols and outdated mapping. The absence of a dedicated military satellite system meant India operated partly in the dark.
Today, the moment Pakistani forces begin climbing up the ridgelines, Indian satellites would pick-up their movements. The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, or IRNSS, now provides sub-metric resolution imagery and uninterrupted positional data across the subcontinent.
The Kargil in 2025 would not only entail maintaining ground, but also control information, space, warfare facilitated by AIs, battle of precise mass, and the electromagnetic spectrum, and employing the least force with the maximum impact
The C5ISR coverage provided by low-earth observation (LEO) satellites and ISR drones, and any movement, whether vehicles, troops, or supplies, would have been mapped and geo-tagged in real time.
For every movement and build-up, Indian commanders today would have a complete tactical map of enemy deployment, strength, and support infrastructure. Surprise, the most critical element the enemy enjoyed in 1999, would have been neutralised.
Reconnaissance Without Risk
Imagine the Tiger Hill assault of 1999. Soldiers climbed for hours under freezing temperatures, often without knowing what lay above. It was heroism in its purest form. In today’s scenario, the same hill would have been scanned by autonomous drones equipped with multispectral sensors.
Thermal imaging would detect enemy heat signatures even under snow camouflage. Machine learning algorithms would analyse changes in the terrain, fresh foot tracks, shifted rocks, or new crevices indicating dugouts.
India’s doctrine today emphasises the calibrated application of precise mass, meaning targeted, proportionate force applied with speed and clarity. Unlike the blunt artillery of 1999, today’s arsenal allows for standoff attacks with minimal collateral damage
No soldier would climb blind. No commanding officer would send a team without the exact coordinates of enemy positions. The fog of war would not disappear, but it would thin out dramatically.
Mass Precision Warfare: Applying Precise
India’s doctrine today emphasises the calibrated application of precise mass, meaning targeted, proportionate force applied with speed and clarity. Unlike the blunt artillery of 1999, today’s arsenal allows for standoff attacks with minimal collateral damage.
Loitering munitions could silently hover over Tololing or Point 4875 and dive straight into bunker openings with explosive accuracy. Long-range rockets armed with precision guidance from IRNSS would flatten supply dumps without touching nearby civilian habitations. The concept of precision, long the strength of air powers like the United States, has now become a part of India’s warfighting machinery.
Precision mass in this context does not just mean pinpoint targeting, but mass saturation attacks with precision to overwhelm the enemy. It means optimising contact and non-contact warfare and kinetic and non-kinetic warfare, causing the desired effect and avoiding unnecessary escalation.
The man-machine symbiosis would allow soldiers to stay behind natural cover while drones clear trenches and identify IEDs. Each infantryman would be part of a digitally integrated combat team, connected to command centres miles away through secured battlefield networks. Decisions would be faster, risks lower, and outcomes more decisive
The targeting could have gone beyond the LoC into enemy territory for greater effect. The ability to apply precise mass carefully calculated kinetic force would allow India to achieve battlefield objectives without the human cost paid in 1999.
The Power of PNT: Position, Navigation, Timing
In high-altitude warfare, where GPS signals can be unreliable and terrain confuses orientation, a dedicated and hardened Position, Navigation and Timing system becomes indispensable. IRNSS not only allows accurate navigation but ensures that guided weapons stay on-track even if external systems are denied or jammed.
PNT data enables the synchronisation of fire missions. A battery of artillery in Dras can strike a position in Batalik nearer to the second, coordinated with drone footage and satellite positioning. Close air support missions could drop laser-guided bombs within a three-meter radius of enemy posts with near certainty, even at night.
In 1999, communication was often disrupted. Ground controllers gave aircraft visual signals to direct strikes. The risk of fratricide loomed. In today’s imagined Kargil, timing is exact, navigation is absolute, and position is never in doubt.
Manned-Unmanned Teaming on the High Frontier
A key difference in this futuristic war would be the role of machines, not replacing soldiers, but fighting alongside them. In a sector like Mushkoh Valley, an infantry platoon would advance not alone, but with robotic pack mules carrying ammunition, surveillance drones hovering ahead, and quadruped ground units armed with machine guns clearing rock shelters.
The man-machine symbiosis would allow soldiers to stay behind natural cover while drones clear trenches and identify IEDs. Each infantryman would be part of a digitally integrated combat team, connected to command centres miles away through secured battlefield networks. Decisions would be faster, risks lower, and outcomes more decisive.
If one were to look for a real-world blueprint of this imagined Kargil, Operation Sindoor offers some answers. Though not officially acknowledged in detail, it is understood to have been a limited, high-altitude precision campaign that combined drone strikes, cyber interdiction, and PNT-enabled firepower to push back Pakistani intrusions in a disputed sector
This shift does not diminish the soldier’s role. It amplifies his judgment by providing better inputs and options. Human will remains at the core – but technology enables it to act smarter and faster.
Non-Kinetic Warfare: The Silent Battlefield
The modern battlefield is not just kinetic. It is cognitive and electromagnetic. In this version of Kargil, Indian cyber units could disrupt enemy communications, scramble UAV links, and inject false data into their command networks. Electronic warfare units might jam radio traffic, intercept orders, and relay misinformation to confuse forward elements.
Psychological operations could demoralise enemy soldiers through deepfake audio, visual deception, and controlled release of misinformation. In a conflict fought in a 24-hour media cycle, controlling the narrative is as important as controlling the ridgelines.
Non-kinetic operations do not seek to destroy, but to disorient. They deny the enemy his cohesion and will to fight. In a theatre as exposed and sensitive as Kargil, this can be a game-changer.
Operation Sindoor: A New Way to Deter
If one were to look for a real-world blueprint of this imagined Kargil, Operation Sindoor offers some answers. Though not officially acknowledged in detail, it is understood to have been a limited, high-altitude precision campaign that combined drone strikes, cyber interdiction, and PNT-enabled firepower to push back Pakistani intrusions in a disputed sector.
What distinguished it was not just the use of drones, but the orchestration of multiple technologies in real time – intelligence, surveillance, targeting, and neutralisation without escalating the conflict beyond the tactical zone. No infantry crossed the LoC. No territory was ceded. The message was delivered with clarity and without delay.
Kargil was a defining moment in Indian military history. The indomitable spirit of the Indian soldier to attain the impossible deserves a salute and gratitude from the nation. If it were fought today, it would still be a story of courage, but told through a new grammar of war, one where precision matters more than mass, and where every life saved is a victory in itself
That is the future India is preparing for – not one of permanent war, but of permanent readiness. To respond fast, hit hard, and keep conflict below the threshold of an all-out war.
A War Not Fought, A Victory Still Won
Had these capabilities existed in 1999, perhaps many of the 527 Indian soldiers who died would have returned home. Perhaps the war would have lasted not two months, but two weeks. Perhaps it would never have begun.
Technology is a force multiplier; it multiplies force and alone cannot prevent conflict, but it can raise the cost of miscalculation. It can reduce human risk, speed up decision-making, and allow political leaders greater options before escalation. Till we have disputed borders, boots and tracks on the ground will matter, but technology and modernisation will result in minimum cost in the least time for the same victory.
The terrain of Kargil has not changed. The snow still falls, the ridgelines still cast shadows, and the mountains still loom as silent witnesses. But the way wars are fought there will never be the same.
Kargil was a defining moment in Indian military history. The indomitable spirit of the Indian soldier to attain the impossible deserves a salute and gratitude from the nation. If it were fought today, it would still be a story of courage, but told through a new grammar of war, one where precision matters more than mass, and where every life saved is a victory in itself.
Every war has a lesson, be it Kargil, Galwan or Sindoor. The wise must introspect and build capabilities for the future, even if no two wars will ever be the same.
The author, a PVSM, AVSM, VSM has had an illustrious career spanning nearly four decades. A distinguished Armoured Corps officer, he has served in various prestigious staff and command appointments including Commander Independent Armoured Brigade, ADG PP, GOC Armoured Division and GOC Strike 1. The officer retired as DG Mechanised Forces in December 2017 during which he was the architect to initiate process for reintroduction of Light Tank and Chairman on the study on C5ISR for Indian Army. Subsequently he was Consultant MoD/OFB from 2018 to 2020. He is also a reputed defence analyst, a motivational speaker and prolific writer on matters of military, defence technology and national security. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda
