India Achieves Its Objectives: The Way Ahead

The third round of BharatShakti Dialogues was undertaken in studio with Nitin A Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief of BharatShakti acting as the moderator. The panellists included Vice Admiral Anil Chopra (Retd), Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd) and Air Marshal Ravi Kapoor (Retd). Along with Nitin, quizzing the panellists were Brig S K Chatterji (Retd) and Surya Gangadharan, Editors of BharatShakti and StratNews Global, respectively. With all three services represented the discussions took a deep dive into the Four Day War between India and Pakistan. Certain issues require further delving.

Use of Drones

The India- Pakistan conflict, expectedly, witnessed a substantial use of drones. These were used for reconnaissance, surveillance, acting as decoys, saturation attacks on AD networks, loitering ammunition and damage assessment. The fact remains, the drones are here to stay and we could be utilising more of these instruments. There is a requirement of assessing the need to raise drone units for better cohesive employment and optimisation.

Indian Targeting Pattern

The Indian targeting sequence of first addressing the Pakistani jihadi establishments and then progressing to address the military objectives throws up a few questions. Would it have been better to first degrade the Pakistani Air Defence, creating safe corridors for our aircraft to release their stand-off weapons, thus reducing the chances of possible air craft losses.  The targeting had to perforce be in compliance with our objectives decided, and contain escalation. Thus, only jihadi targets were initially destroyed and our desire of not escalating the conflict further was informed. The military targets were addressed only after Pakistan decided on strikes on our military installations and civilian areas.

Efficacy of Multi-Tiered Air Defence

The efficiency of our tiered Air Defence (AD) and our indigenous equipment proved its efficacy. Even legacy equipment was optimised by the centralised system to prove itself to be useful. Akashteer and Akash proved reliable and operative in spite of multiple assaults utilising drone swarms. The preponderant use of drones by Pakistan, failed to overwhelm the AD Network.

Defence Industry

The performance of indigenous equipment calls for greater investment in our industrial capabilities. R&D funding and private sector involvement requires a boost. Start-ups are the key. But what happens to this critical component of the defence manufacturing eco system when the orders dry out and they face a financial crunch.

Deployment of Indian Navy

The Navy deployed its assets in the Arabian Sea and proved to be a deterrent force in being. The Navy’s positioning conveyed how deliberate was our intent quite clearly to Pakistan. However, we were short of the full compliment of air craft for a two-carrier deployment that we had carried out.

There is a huge requirement to push the acquisition of naval assets. It’s not a question of submarines or air craft carriers, but a three-dimensional navy capable of winning in all the domains.

EW, AI, Quantum, Robotics

We need to sharpen our Electronic Warfare, Cyber Warfare, utilise AI, robotics and a lot more. In every department we need to invest and progress.

Space

Space calls for special mention. The Chinese are way ahead. We have made substantial progress, however, in today’s scenario any week ness in any area will be detected by the enemy and utilised to breach our defences. The battle in the space is of utmost importance. Should we have to battle a more technologically evolved country like China, space will be critical area of contestation.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)

Our success in this short and swift four-day exchange with the Pakistanis generated its momentum from the office of the CDS that has taken roots now. It allowed continuous interaction and speedier decision making by the three Chiefs, with surely the CDS stepping in where required. Op efficiency enhancement calls for structural changes in the forces. Notwithstanding reservations about the office of CDS in some quarters, this is an area for immediate implementation.

Chinese Threat

The bigger threat is China, and we have to be cognizant of the fact that we have to fight our battles by ourselves. Pakistan will also stage a comeback. They will want a win. The two front threat remains potent and most plausible.

Defence Expenditure

The requirement is to enhance defence expenditure, like never before. The Chinese are way ahead and we need to bridge the gap. Raising the defence budget to 3 to 4 percent of the GDP is called for. Sovereignty comes with a price tag, and we cannot shy away from it.

Team BharatShakti