New Delhi : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that much of India's defence preparedness today relies on "invisible technologies" that ensure operational efficiency, secure communication, and real-time coordination within the Armed Forces.These invisible technologies include secure data architectures, encrypted networks, automated maintenance systems, and interoperable databases, the Defence Minister said.
Speaking at the Delhi Defence Dialogue organised at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), Singh said, "Much of our defence readiness today rests on what might be called invisible technologies which include secure data architectures, encrypted networks, automated maintenance systems and interoperable databases."
Rajnath Singh then added, "These may not capture public imagination like a new aircraft or missile or warship but they determine whether the right equipment reaches the right place at the right time, whether commanders have real-time visibility and whether systems talk to each other seamlessly."
He also noted that technology is not only about weapons or platforms but also about improving institutional efficiency. "Technology is not confined to weapons or platforms alone. It also resides in systems that make our institutions work faster, more transparently and more intelligently," he said.
Advising the Armed Forces to keep pace with global innovation and modern systems, the Defence Minister said, "My advice to the Armed Forces would be to remain in a constant state of curiosity and always on the lookout for best practices across the world, not just in technology related to equipment but also the new technologies related to the aspects of training, logistics, planning and management systems."
Drawing attention to the need for India to become a global leader in defence technology, Singh said the nation must now move from adopting foreign innovations to leading them. "For India, the path ahead is clear. We must move decisively from technology adoption to technology leadership. We can no longer be content with merely catching up to global innovation. We must aim to set the pace and shape the future," he said.
On India's growing talent and innovation ecosystem, the Defence Minister added, "Our strength lies not in any single institution, but in our ecosystem of talent, ideas and partnerships. We have a young and inventive workforce, full of imagination and purpose. We have a vibrant start-up culture that is unafraid to experiment, to take risks and to challenge convention."
Meanwhile, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan also highlighted the growing importance of artificial intelligence and automation in military decision-making. "Combat is largely between human beings to human beings, but we are at the cusp of history where the future combat could be between machines and machines. Human brainpower is being supplemented by artificial intelligence to take faster decisions," he said.
Pointing to advances in human performance in cooperation with robotics, the CDS mentioned that, "Human endurance can be advanced, cognition can be advanced, recovery can be advanced because of advances in medical sciences. I have already spoken about exoskeletons or human rights on man, machine mix, kind of system, robots. This is how the landscape of warfare is evolving and how technology is influencing warfare."
The CDS also spoke about man-unmanned teaming.
Man-unmanned teaming simply means an autonomous or unmanned aircraft working alongside manned platforms to boost combat capability and operational reach. These platforms can be used for a wide range of missions, including surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and offensive strike roles. He said, "As far as man-unmanned teaming, there are programs with the Air Force -- we are running the combat air teaming system, the CATS. It will be based on the LCA Tejas and also integrate with platforms like loyal wingman, swarm drones and high-altitude relay and communication nodes. The Navy is also working on something similar, a naval CATS variant, kind of a project for net centricity and data centricity."