- Technology and Modern Warfare: Future conflicts will increasingly depend on advanced technologies like IT, AI, and quantum mechanics, demanding agility, adaptability, and mastery in multiple domains for effective combat.
- Role of AI: AI is revolutionizing warfare by enabling autonomous systems, advanced data analysis, and enhancing decision-making, as seen in Ukraine’s use of AI for defence strategies.
- Multi-Domain Operations: The Indian military needs expertise across cyber, space, air, and land to remain a dominant force in rapidly evolving tech-enabled warfare.
Rapid changes in industrial capability and the sheer amount of military gear available have changed the essence of combat. These days, conventional weaponry like firearms and missiles and industrial power are not enough to win a war. The changing character of contemporary wars, global interconnectedness, and technological improvements are some of the major causes of this. Even while fifth-generation fighter jets, tanks, artillery, contemporary destroyers, and aircraft carriers are still required, they are insufficient on their own.
However, Modern warfare increasingly relies on advanced technologies such as information technology (IT), artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum mechanics, creating a more complex and multifaceted battlefield. For instance, AI-powered fighter jets are already outperforming experienced human pilots in simulated aerial combat. On the battlefield, if an opponent can understand the enemy’s intentions, even the strongest conventional military forces will face insurmountable obstacles that can jeopardize national security.
Modern wars are often “hybrid,” combining conventional military force with irregular tactics, cyber warfare, economic pressure, and information warfare. Winning such conflicts requires more than just industrial strength; it involves agility, adaptability, and mastery of multiple domains.
Information Technology (IT)
IT enables cyber-attacks that can disrupt critical infrastructure, communications, or financial systems. Cyber warfare can incapacitate an enemy’s ability to function without firing a single shot. Militaries are relying on real-time data, satellite imagery, and networked intelligence to make faster, more informed decisions.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI powers autonomous systems like drones and unmanned vehicles that can carry out surveillance, reconnaissance, and even targeted strikes without human intervention. AI algorithms are being developed to analyze large datasets to predict enemy actions, simulate different battle scenarios, and improve logistics and resource management. AI is increasingly vital in defending against cyber-attacks by identifying vulnerabilities and adapting to new threats in real-time.
Quantum Mechanics
Quantum computers have the potential to break traditional encryption methods, making previously secure communications vulnerable. They can also solve complex problems, like optimizing logistics in real-time, which can give militaries a significant edge. Quantum encryption, such as quantum key distribution (QKD), could enable virtually unhackable communications, ensuring secure command and control systems. Quantum sensors could be used for ultra-precise navigation and detection, making it easier to locate enemy submarines, stealth aircraft, or other hidden assets.
Future of Warfare using IT, AI, and Quantum Mechanics.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of modern warfare, where technologies like Information Technology (IT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Quantum Mechanics play increasingly central roles, the Indian military must focus on agility, adaptability, and mastery of multiple domains to remain a formidable force.
1. Agility: Rapid Response in a Dynamic Battlefield
Technological Disruption: In a future battlefield influenced by IT, AI, and quantum mechanics, technology will evolve faster than traditional military structures can keep up. Agility allows the Indian military to respond quickly to technological shifts, cyber threats, and rapidly changing combat situations.
Asymmetric Warfare: Adversaries may not engage in conventional, large-scale military operations but instead rely on cyber warfare, AI-driven autonomous systems, and information warfare. Agility ensures that Indian forces can react swiftly to unconventional threats like cyber-attacks or misinformation campaigns.
Joint Operations: Agility in working across multiple domains (air, land, sea, cyber, and space) and with various branches of the military allows for more effective joint operations, enhancing coordination and response times in complex, tech-enabled conflicts. AI can therefore help the Indian military with its theaterisation initiative.
2. Adaptability: Handling Diverse and Evolving Threats
Technological Integration: The ability to integrate and adapt to new technologies like AI-driven systems, quantum cryptography, and autonomous vehicles is essential. Military forces must be capable of quickly adopting new tools and systems that can change the course of warfare, such as AI-enhanced battlefield analytics or quantum-enhanced communication systems. It has been seen in Ukraine how “AI systems have the ability to predict enemy behaviour, anticipate vulnerabilities, weather and environmental conditions, assess mission strategies and suggest alleviation plans”.
Evolving Enemy Tactics: Adaptability is crucial in responding to non-traditional threats posed by adversaries using hybrid warfare tactics that include both physical and digital fronts, such as cyber-attacks paired with conventional military assaults. The ability to adjust strategies on-the-fly allows the Indian military to stay ahead of adversaries and AI is becoming the best tool of deception.
Pandemic and Disaster Response: Modern military forces are increasingly tasked with non-combat roles such as humanitarian missions during pandemics or natural disasters. The Indian military’s adaptability in shifting focus between warfare and civil assistance during these crises is essential for national security and stability.
3. Mastery of Multiple Domains: Dominance across all Fronts
Cyber and Information Warfare: Mastery of the cyber domain is crucial, as future conflicts will involve cyberattacks, electronic warfare, and data-driven operations. India must develop a robust cyber defence infrastructure to protect critical systems while also being capable of launching offensive cyber operations when necessary.
AI and Autonomous Systems: Future warfare will be heavily influenced by AI-driven autonomous systems like drones, robotic ground units, and unmanned naval vessels. India must master AI applications to leverage these technologies for reconnaissance, surveillance, and precision strikes, reducing human risk and enhancing battlefield efficiency.
Space and Quantum Warfare: Space is becoming a critical battleground for satellite-based communication and surveillance. India’s defence capabilities must extend to space warfare, where control over satellites and secure communications will be vital. Quantum mechanics, particularly quantum communication and sensing, could disrupt these domains, making it crucial to have expertise in quantum technologies for secure communication and ultra-precise detection.
Multi-Domain Warfare: Warfare in the future will be simultaneous across multiple domains—land, air, sea, space, cyber, and information. Indian military forces must have expertise in multi-domain operations, ensuring that they can coordinate across all areas and respond to threats on different fronts efficiently. This requires not only technological superiority but also the ability to integrate and command operations across these diverse domains seamlessly.
4. Strategic Importance for India
India sits in a geopolitically volatile region, surrounded by rivals like China and Pakistan, both of whom are rapidly advancing in AI, quantum research, and cyber capabilities. To maintain the regional balance of power and protect its sovereignty, the Indian military must excel in these technological fields.
With continuous cross-border tensions and the increasing complexity of hybrid warfare (combining cyber warfare with conventional tactics), mastery of technologies like AI and IT allows India to predict, prevent, and counter threats effectively. For instance, India must be able to monitor cyber activities, detect AI-powered misinformation campaigns, and maintain secure communication channels even during active conflict.
5. Need for Self-Reliance and Innovation
Indigenization: To avoid over-reliance on foreign technology and ensure national security, India needs to develop and master homegrown technologies in IT, AI, and quantum mechanics. This requires not just adoption but also innovation in these fields, enabling the Indian military to stay ahead without depending on external powers. That is why tech sovereignty is the need of the hour.
R&D Investment: Mastery in these advanced domains calls for greater investment in research and development, collaboration with academia and industry, and fostering Indigenous defence tech companies. This builds a self-reliant defence ecosystem that can respond to specific national security challenges while also advancing cutting-edge military technology.
Lessons from the Russia-Ukraine War and the Use of AI
Alex Karp, the CEO of the data analytics firm Palantir Technologies went to Ukraine where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During his meeting with Zelensky, Karp offered to deploy Palantir’s data and artificial intelligence software to support Ukraine’s defence. To the uninitiated, Palantir provides data-analytics software to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the FBI, the Department of Defense, and a host of foreign intelligence agencies
In Ukraine, AI technologies provided crucial support. Palantir’s AI software was used to analyze data and aid in military targeting. AI’s ability to process vast amounts of information in real time helped Ukraine defend itself against a much larger force, highlighting the significance of AI in modern warfare. According to General Mark Milley, the experimentation in Military AI was, “the most significant fundamental change in the character of war ever recorded in history.”
Conclusion
In future warfare, dominated by IT, AI, and quantum technologies, agility will allow the Indian military to respond rapidly to evolving threats, adaptability ensures it can handle diverse challenges and integrate new technologies, and mastery of multiple domains gives India the edge across cyber, space, air, and land. Together, these qualities will enable the Indian military to defend the nation in an increasingly complex and technology-driven global conflict environment.
Together, these technologies are making warfare more precise, faster, and potentially less reliant on traditional manpower or resources. The modern battlefield is increasingly about who controls the information and can process it more effectively. This shift is transforming how countries prepare for and engage in conflicts.
What is worth remembering is that globalization has made economies and societies interconnected. Wars that involve large-scale destruction can have global repercussions, including economic crises, supply chain disruptions, and refugee movements. Therefore, countries may seek less destructive forms of warfare that avoid traditional, industrial-based military confrontation.
German military Strategist Carl von Clausewitz said, “War is the realm of uncertainty; three-quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty,” he was describing what is now commonly referred to as the “fog of war.” AI has the power to sift through the fog of war give the military the advantage and give the commanders and decision-makers accurate information about the battlefield.
This article can be best summarized by what Lt Gen Raj Shukla said during a podcast with ANI. He said, “The era of warfare are blending, ‘trench warfare, cold war era legacy systems like tanks and artillery and AI. However, trench warfare and Cold War-era legacy systems have been taken to a new high with AI which is the leading technology.
(Balaji is a freelance writer with an MA in History and Political science and has published articles on defence and strategic affairs and book reviews. He tweets @LaxmanShriram78. Views expressed are the author’s own.)
References:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/21/books/review/the-age-of-ai-henry-kissinger-eric-schmidt-daniel-huttenlocher.html
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- https://www.delhipolicygroup.org/publication/policy-briefs/implementing-artificial-intelligence-in-the-indian-military.html
- https://epjquantumtechnology.springeropen.com/articles/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-021-00113-y
- https://cenjows.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/5-Multi-Domain-Operations-Creating-Capability-Overmatch-by-Lt-Gen-Dr-NB-Singh-PVSM-AVSM-VSM-Retd.pdf
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- https://www.geospatialworld.net/prime/business-and-industry-trends/importance-of-space-in-indias-defence-strategy/#:~:text=India%20needs%20to%20assert%20its,navigation%2C%20reconnaissance%20and%20surveillance%20capabilities.
- https://www.cnas.org/publications/commentary/roles-and-implications-of-ai-in-the-russian-ukrainian-conflict
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm0PzKOSGm8
Balaji is a freelance writer with an MA in History and Political science and has published articles on defence and strategic affairs and book reviews. He tweets @LaxmanShriram78. Views expressed are the author’s own.
Dr. Niranjan B Poojar 
Aayush Pal 
Shobhil Shrivastava