Emerging technologies, an euphemism for capabilities that rely on a combination of cyber technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), unmanned systems, and advanced computing, is in vogue among most militaries. The Indian military is seemingly alive to this development. At the Chanakya Defence Dialogue, the Chief of the Army Staff, General Manoj Pande, said that the Army had identified 45 niche technologies in the field of military applications. Similarly, under ‘UDAAN’, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is using AI, cyber and virtual reality to address its operational, logistical, and training needs. The Navy, too, says that it is moving forward with emerging technologies, which includes an Integrated Unmanned Roadmap, while also encouraging indigenisation under project ‘Swavlamban’.
Not to be left out, the Defence Ministry, through ‘AIDef’, has showcased its initiatives in this realm, which includes the Defence AI Council and the Defence AI Project Agency. Both these efforts are aimed towards incorporating AI into various allied organisations, such as Defence Public Sector Undertakings and the Defence Research and Development Organisation. However well-intentioned these efforts maybe, the Ministry and the services need to think more creatively about their approach to emerging technologies. More specifically, for these initiatives to be successful, the military must be cognisant that technology is not a silver bullet and should not be imagined as a ‘plug and play’ — readily adjusted to existing practices. Instead, it needs to be accompanied by organisational and doctrinal changes and a willingness to share data with the civilian environment.
