- Narratives, Networks, and the Nation: India’s Strategy for Future Warfare
- Sudarshan Chakra and the Race for Supremacy: India’s Strategic Vision 2025
- Victory in the Mind: Indian Military Leader Stresses Narrative Power in Modern Conflict
- Speed, Sophistication, and Shielding the Nation: India’s Multi-Domain Defence Transformation
By Sangeeta Saxena
MHOW, India. 26 August 2025. This small sleepy cantonment town in the state of Madhya Pradesh actually became the Military Head Quaters of War in central India, as it woke up to excitement and elan as the Army War College hosted the largest conglomeration of service offices from the three forces, veterans, academia, industry and the media at the 1st Ran Samvad , a conversation on war, warfare and warfighting organised by HQ IDS and CENJOWS. At this high-level military forum on future warfare and integration, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan delivered candid insights into the Indian Armed Forces’ ongoing and future transformation. Emphasising the criticality of integration, precision, electronic warfare, and data security, he addressed tough questions and highlighted the role of industry, academia, and civil-military synergy in preparing for future battlespaces.Bottom of Form
“We are a peace-loving nation. But let me be clear—being peace-loving doesn’t mean we’re pacifists. Peace without power is utopian. If you want peace, prepare for war. And today, the global environment is witnessing an increased propensity to use force. That’s the first trend I see. Short-duration conflicts now help achieve political objectives. Precision strikes cause minimal collateral damage, and mechanisms like escalation control exist—which make the use of force even more likely. The second trend is the blurring of lines between war and peace. Gone are the days of declared wars. Today’s conflicts unfold in a continuum—confliction, crisis, confrontation, conflict, and finally combat.The third trend is the rising importance of people. Earlier, wars sacrificed people for territory or ideology. Today, nations prioritize their citizens, and every soldier counts. The fourth trend I see is in the changing matrices of victory. It’s no longer about enemy equipment destroyed or POWs captured. Now it’s about the speed and tempo of operations, long-range strike impact, and narrative dominance,” the CDS stated.
India’s evolving warfighting philosophy is being shaped by a strategic triad of integration, precision, and disruption, laying the foundation for a comprehensive future warfare roadmap. At the heart of this transformation is a growing recognition that electronic warfare must be treated as a distinct operational domain, alongside space, cyber, and cognitive warfare, given its critical role in disrupting adversarial sensors and communication networks. Acknowledging the complexity of future conflicts, India’s military is now drawing in industry and academia as equal partners in preparedness efforts—from war games and future warfare courses to real-time adaptive capability development. With airspace and near-space emerging as pivotal theatres of operation, and the integration of AI and sensor-disruption technologies taking center stage, the redefinition of warfighting is already underway. From doctrinal thinking to disruptive implementation, the armed forces are pushing boundaries, integrating services, platforms, and domains to stay ahead of evolving threats. As he aptly stated, “War is our bread & butter”—a stark reminder that readiness, innovation, and jointness are not optional but essential in shaping India’s path to military supremacy.
In an era defined by blurred lines between peace and conflict, India’s military leader delivered a powerful address on future warfare at this high-level defence seminar. Drawing on doctrine, strategy, and emerging technologies, the speech reinstated the need for transformation, narrative dominance, and whole-of-nation preparedness. “Victory today also depends on how well we demonstrate sophistication and superiority in all domains. That’s why narrative building is essential—it defines perception. Armed forces must create the facts of war. And based on those facts, we construct our narrative of victory,” he stressed.
The message which emerged was that jointness and integration among the Army, Navy, and Air Force are essential pillars of modern warfare, where the battlespace is no longer confined to isolated domains. In contemporary conflict scenarios—ranging from counter-terrorism to full-scale conventional war—seamless interoperability among the three services enables swift decision-making, coordinated application of force, and enhanced situational awareness. Integration ensures that intelligence, logistics, firepower, and manoeuvre are synchronised across land, air, and maritime domains, enabling precision operations and mission success. Whether it is joint planning in integrated theatre commands, unified command-and-control systems, or network-centric warfare platforms, the ability of the services to operate cohesively determines their strategic advantage. As emerging threats span across kinetic and non-kinetic fronts—cyber, space, and information domains—the need for joint training, shared doctrines, and interoperable technologies becomes even more critical. Ultimately, jointness is not merely an operational ideal but a strategic necessity for decisive outcomes in 21st-century warfare.
Gen Anil Chauhan referred to Prime Minister’s call from Red Fort on Independence Day, “let’s talk about India’s Sudarshan Chakra—a strategic defence dome, mentioned by the Prime Minister, to be ready by 2025. It’s both a shield and a sword, designed to protect strategic and civilian assets. The system will integrate everything—multi-domain ISR, ground, air, maritime, undersea, and space-based sensors—into one seamless picture, backed by AI and quantum computing. This will require a whole-of-nation effort. But like always, we’ll do it affordably, indigenously, and effectively. Future warfare must be debated academically. This is about preparation, not provocation. The adversary can be anyone—we’re here to prepare for the unknown.”
“Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail.’ That’s the transformation we must lead. We’re in a race. The one who runs faster defines tomorrow. But some are jumping tracks altogether—we cannot afford to fall behind. To win tomorrow’s war, we need not one scholar—we need hundreds. Not one doctrine—but many. That’s the scale of intellectual preparation we must aim for, ” he added.
Warfare has long been a powerful catalyst for technological advancement, often driving innovation at a pace unmatched by peacetime developments. The demands of the battlefield—be it speed, precision, adaptability, or resilience—have historically spurred breakthroughs in engineering, communications, computing, and surveillance. From radar and jet engines in World War II to cyber warfare and unmanned systems in the 21st century, each phase of conflict has pushed the boundaries of what is technologically possible. Today, the nature of warfare is increasingly multi-domain, involving land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace, which in turn requires a technological ecosystem that is integrated, intelligent, and agile. As strategic threats evolve into asymmetric and hybrid forms, militaries around the world are shaping their force structures around emerging tech such as AI, quantum computing, directed energy weapons, hypersonics, and autonomous systems. In this reciprocal relationship, warfare not only demands new technology—it fundamentally defines its trajectory, accelerating its development from concept to combat-ready capabilities.
“Airspace has become more important than ever. Regional airspace is no longer just 20 km—we must integrate near space, up to 80–100 km, because that’s where hydrostatics and drones will operate. This necessitates special coordination, especially given the volume and complexity of threats. Most warfare today is conducted through air mediums. The coordination over airspace is vital. Precision has become synonymous with sophistication and effects. Mass targeting belonged to an era where populations were unarmed and unprotected—today we need targeted precision for effectiveness,” reiterated the CDS.
“When I spoke about integration—whether it was air defence, electronic warfare, communications, or counter-UAS systems—I meant integration of a very large order. This includes ISR, signal intelligence, and rapid delivery mechanisms. Even when we think we’ve covered ground, something new comes up that demands further work. We are taking steps toward this transformation. An officer asked about whether industry can adapt in real time during crises—I believe that’s precisely why they and academia are part of this conversation. They must understand the transformation taking place in the armed forces, and they will be required,” the CDS added.
In an era increasingly defined by grey zones and hybrid threats, the traditional binary of war and peace has dissolved into a continuum of perpetual strategic competition. Conversations on war during these periods of “no war, no peace” serve as critical instruments of national preparedness, intellectual engagement, and policy calibration. Such dialogues are not warmongering exercises but essential academic, doctrinal, and strategic reflections that shape a nation’s ability to anticipate, deter, and respond. In times when kinetic conflict is not underway, yet tensions simmer at the threshold of confrontation, the military, policymakers, scholars, and civil society must continue to debate doctrines, evaluate capabilities, refine technologies, and build narratives. These conversations act as intellectual war games—helping define red lines, recalibrate deterrence, and ensure readiness—while also embedding war preparedness within the national consciousness without compromising peace aspirations. They are the fulcrum upon which future security postures pivot.
He emphasised, “precision allows us to achieve more with less—smaller storage, quicker production cycles, and sharper impact. But we can’t go 100% precision overnight. We’re still in transition—it has to be both. However, adaptation of platforms is critical. Vulnerability is rising, and no amount of wire mesh on a tank can change that.What makes platforms vulnerable is not just the equipment but the sensors that track them. If we can disrupt those sensors, we can protect platforms. That’s why I believe electronic warfare should emerge as its own domain—separate from cyber, space, and cognitive warfare. About data collection, security, and future utility, if we don’t take steps now, we won’t be able to build AI solutions five years later. We need secure, reliable data. We’ve already begun steps toward computational intelligence and data analytics. There’s a classic debate: does technology shape strategy or vice versa? Frankly, that’s for our academic minds—to debate this. What I want to emphasise is this: our job is to focus on war and warfighting. Budgets and other priorities matter, yes—but someone else handles that.”
India’s evolving military doctrine reflects a fundamental shift in its approach to warfare, encapsulated in the maxim: “If you want peace, prepare for war.” This philosophy reflects a broader strategic transformation that moves beyond conventional battlefields into a new era—from confliction to combat—where crises, confrontations, and hybrid threats blur the line between war and peace. Central to this shift is a greater emphasis on narrative dominance, networked operations, and national resilience, ensuring that India’s defence posture is not just reactive but pre-emptive and perceptive. The unveiling of the Sudarshan Chakra initiative signals India’s intent to build a layered, integrated shield against evolving threats by 2025, encompassing AI-driven ISR, electronic warfare, and near-space defence capabilities. At the heart of this transformation lies the understanding that victory today is not only defined by battlefield gains but by the control of perception, tempo, and technological edge. Speed, precision, and sophistication in multi-domain operations—across land, air, sea, cyber, space, and cognitive domains—are now the benchmarks of India’s military preparedness and strategic supremacy.
“We will have to look at multi-domain ISR, integration of ground, air, maritime, undersea, space, sensors, all becoming a key necessity. A colossal amount of integration will be required, and multiple fields will need to be networked to provide a very good picture to us. Colossal amounts of data will be needed to be analysed for information and real-time response, use of artificial intelligence, advanced computation, data analytics, data analysis, and quantum technology will be essential. We must keep the spotlight on warfighting. You may have heard about our Future Warfare Course. We’ve already involved people from academia and industry. We are now considering two-sided exercises in all three services involving DRDO labs, DPSUs like BEL and BDL, IITs, and select private firms—so that we can test real-time adaptation during conflict simulations,” he concluded.
These remarks represent a significant shift in the Indian military’s strategic thinking—from traditional definitions of warfare to multi-domain, tech-driven readiness. Emphasising speed, sophistication, people-centric operations, and narrative warfare, the speech outlines the core components of India’s preparation for future conflict. At its heart lies a vision of transformation—powered by technology, driven by doctrine, and grounded in a commitment to peace through strength.
In his clarion call for clarity, readiness, and transformation, the CDS redefined the evolving landscape of national defence. By underlining the vital roles of integration, real-time adaptation, electronic warfare, and data security, he provided a blueprint for India’s war preparedness in the 21st century. His emphasis on precision, synergy, and collaboration with industry and academia underlines a forward-leaning vision that sees warfare as multi-domain, dynamic, and data-driven.
