New Delhi: Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC) Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit in his address at a conference ‘Counter UAVs & Air Defence Systems: Future of Modern Warfare’ here, said that the adversary has learnt from Operation Sindoor and so “we will have to be two steps ahead” of them in military thinking and planning.
He further added that India’s proposed air defence system Sudarshan Chakra will be the “mother of all air defence systems combined together” and will include counter-drone, counter-UAV and counter-hypersonic systems among others.
The event saw participation of senior military officers, representatives of various firms in the defence industry and domain experts.
Referring to the recent Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war and how relatively much cheaper drones have played a critical role in inflicting huge damage to expensive military assets of the other side, Air Marshal Dixit said, “They have created an “innovation adaptation cycle” and Indian industry, think-tanks, academia’s job should be to think “two steps ahead” to stay ahead of the adversary, as it is “like a game of chess”.
He urged the defence industry, Like ‘Make in India’, you have to start ‘Think in India’ and ideate.
“Certain drones which “we caught were sophisticated, using… AI, visual means, and even if we jam their GPS, they were able to reach somewhere close,” Air Marshal Dixit said on Operation Sindoor. “They are also working and becoming better, so we have to go one step ahead,” he said.
However, asserting that it seems “our counter-drone and GPS-jamming systems worked well, as damage caused by these drones have been almost nil”, Air Marshal Dixit said, “So, that is a “success story in anti-drone”, but unfortunately, same thing cannot be repeated next time, the other side’s system will also grow, because “they have also learned about our capabilities.”
He emphasised that self-reliance, Aatmanirbharta, “gives a surprise element”. “Like all surprises, it can only be utilised once. So, next time, again, we have to give a surprise element,” he said.
Air Marshal Dixit, in his address, also mentioned about India’s envisioned air defence system Sudarshan Chakra, saying it will be “mother of all air defence systems combined together, along with some weapon systems”.
“We are still in ideation phase, but counter-drones, counter-UAV… counter-hypersonic, all these kind of things, and some things else also, which cannot be spoken about, all those combined together is Mission Sudarshan Chakra, with counter drone in the lowest layer of the system,” he said.
In his address at a tri-service seminar in August, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan had said that the proposed air defence system will work as “a shield and a sword’, and had suggested it will be on the lines of Israel’s Iron Dome all-weather air defence system, known as a very effective missile shield. Sudarshan Chakra will entail a colossal amount of integration of sensors, missiles, surveillance apparatus and artificial intelligence tools.
During his Independence Day address this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the 10-year project.
Air Marshal Dixit also emphasised on war’s impact on economy and commercialisation of drones. He said that one has to take economic view also. “I cannot go bankrupt while winning a war,” he said. The CISC also underlined the role of AI in the field of drones, and said counter-drone system will have to have a “combination of both soft kill and hard kill, no two ways about it”.
