New Delhi: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan emphasised the growing importance of space as a domain of warfare during his inaugural address at the third edition of the Indian DefSpace Symposium on April 7. He stated that humanity is at the “cusp of an era” where space will dominate warfare, influencing air, maritime, and land domains.
To prepare for this shift, General Chauhan advocated for developing a “space culture,” which involves creating doctrines, conducting research, and establishing dedicated space warfare schools within the armed forces. Drawing historical parallels, he highlighted how maritime and aerospace cultures shaped military power in previous centuries.
For instance, seafaring nations like Portugal and England dominated global affairs through maritime capabilities, while aerospace advancements gave the United States and Europe control over airspace. Similarly, he argued that space will now become central to military strategy and power projection.
General Chauhan also stressed the need for India to develop offensive and defensive capabilities in space to counter challenges such as anti-satellite weapons. He called for expanding India’s NavIC satellite constellation, enhancing space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and ensuring secure satellite communications. This aligns with India’s broader efforts under initiatives like Mission DefSpace to strengthen its defence space ecosystem.
“Similarly, the aerospace culture led to the domination of air space by the US and European nations. And both the domains have a lasting impact on warfare. Military power was actually centred around this particular culture getting developed and creation of capabilities towards that,” General Chauhan said.
“And today we are on the cusp of an era where space is emerging as a new domain of warfare, and it is going to dominate warfare. All the three primary elements of warfare (land, sea, air) will depend on space,” the CDS added.
