Pak will continue to acquire technologies: Maj Gen Anand (Retd) on why India needs to maintain tech edge | Exclusive

Pakistan is likely to draw lessons from Operation Sindoor and continue acquiring advanced military technologies, including with support from China and Turkey, making it important for India to sustain and widen its technological edge, according to Maj Gen Pawan Anand (Retd), Director, Centre for Emerging Technologies for AtmaNirbhar Bharat (CETANB), United Service Institution of India (USI).

"Pakistan would have also learned lessons and will continue to acquire technologies. The support it has received from China and other developed countries, including Turkey, means that its technological capabilities could also become sharper. That is why we need to maintain our own technological edge,” Anand told LiveMint on the sidelines of the Defence Tech Summit, on 29 September in New Delhi.

Anand said Operation Sindoor demonstrated how advances in technology can provide an operational advantage, and India now needs to build on those gains by accelerating the development and deployment of emerging technologies.

Quick answers to key questions

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QUESTIONS

India can maintain its technological edge by accelerating the development and deployment of emerging technologies, ensuring that advancements outpace those of adversaries like Pakistan, which is likely acquiring technologies with support from countries like China and Turkey.

Digital engineering allows the armed forces to design, model, and test new military equipment virtually, which shortens development timelines and helps identify design issues early, thus ensuring a more refined physical prototype.

Integrating diverse military systems is crucial as it enables seamless communication and operational coordination between various platforms and weapons, enhancing overall effectiveness in operations, as demonstrated in Operation Sindoor.

Artificial intelligence contributes to military operations by classifying large datasets, providing analytical capabilities, and supporting operational decision-making, enabling forces to utilize data effectively while ensuring commanders retain control.

The critical pillars for building effective military AI capabilities include compute power, connectivity, and well-classified data, which are essential for developing advanced AI solutions in a military context.

“Operation Sindoor demonstrated how better levels of technology can provide us with an operational advantage. The natural now is to take that forward, maintain the edge and ensure that we move faster than the pace of technological development and faster than what our adversaries can throw at us,” he said.

Anand said the push will require the armed forces to make greater use of technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital engineering.

“The Army has moved into AI and is working with a huge amount of data. It is classifying that data and putting it into the right training sets so that it can feed its algorithms and use the right models for field deployment,” Anand said.

AI needs compute, connectivity and data

Anand identified three critical pillars for building effective military AI capabilities: compute, connectivity and data.

“There are three pillars of AI: compute, connectivity and data,” he said.

“We have redundancy in connectivity, and well-classified data and training sets are almost in place. All we need now is high-compute capability. Coupled with our humungous talent base, we will be on our way to becoming a global leader in AI in the military as well,” he said.

Anand also pointed to gaps in semiconductor capacity as an area requiring greater attention as India seeks to build indigenous high-performance computing and AI capabilities.

Digital engineering can speed up military acquisition

Anand said digital engineering can help the armed forces shorten development timelines by allowing new equipment to be designed, modelled and tested virtually before physical prototypes are produced.

“Digital engineering helps us create virtual models of the equipment we want to induct into the military. We can put the physics into these virtual models and test them in a simulated battlefield environment,” he said.

Such virtual testing can help identify design issues earlier and ensure that physical prototypes are more refined when they are built, he added.

“Digital engineering enables faster ideation, faster development and faster fielding of equipment into the field army. This is essential if we want to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies and maintain an advantage over our adversaries,” Anand said.

“Our aim is to move the entire acquisition process into a much faster plane and ensure that we keep pace with technology,” he added.

The Indian Navy has already begun adopting digital engineering in some projects, although these efforts remain relatively isolated, Anand said.

“The next step is to take these efforts to a much wider level across the armed forces,” he added.

About the Author

Bhanu Pratap is a journalist who reports and writes on foreign affairs, India’s foreign policy, geopolitics and strategic affairs. He closely follows diplomatic developments in New Delhi and has a keen interest in defence and national security.<br> <br> Bhanu also focuses on in-depth, interview-based reports and regularly speaking with experts and policymakers to bring perspectives and context to major developments around the world.<br> <br> He is also interested in stories with strong humanitarian angles.<br><br> One such report examined the cases of Indian nationals who were allegedly recruited and forced into Russia’s war against Ukraine. While reporting the story, Bhanu spoke to the families of those affected and documented their experiences. The report was later taken into account by the United Nations in its findings on human rights violations linked to the war in Ukraine.<br> <br> For Bhanu, the zeal to produce meaningful and impactful journalism remains at the heart of his work.<br> <br>He has previously worked with Firstpost, NDTV, Newslaundry and Republic.<br><br> Bhanu studied at the Delhi School of Journalism, University of Delhi. He initially chose science with plans to pursue engineering, influenced by conventional expectations, but fate had other plans and eventually led him to journalism.<br><br> Beyond the newsroom, Bhanu enjoys exploring culture and history and often spends his days off on heritage walks. He is also passionate about travelling, biking and listening to folk music.<br> <br>For tips, reviews and suggestions, you can reach him at bhanu.pratap@htdigital.in.

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