Army Chief Reveals 3 Ds Changing Warfare: Drones, AI and Citizen Soldiers

Addressing the Delhi Defence Dialogue 2025 at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), the COAS, General Dwivedi, highlighted the evolving role of technology on contemporary battlefields, citing the use of drones and artificial intelligence in the Ukraine-Russia conflict as a live example.

"As far as the future battlefield is concerned, it is the era of jostling and competition. The long piece is declining, and comprehensive conflicts are on the rise. Means technology is going yellow. Over 50 ongoing conflicts and more than 100 nations; we are watching closely the Ukrainian battlefield because it is a living lab of the conditions along our borders. Drones are stalking armour columns, AI is jamming radios, and precision fires are hitting well beyond 100 km," the COAS said.

Considering the three Ds --democratisation, diffusion, and demography --the COAS called for the use of AI, robotics, and cyber tools in the grey zones of warfare.

"I'll give out three Ds, which are changing the war scenario today. Democratisation, that is the newest technology, and it has already been shown that the platform alone is not relevant. It has to have a number of layers supported by this democratised phenomena that is AI, quantum, robotics, auto system... DW that is energy weapons, cyber tools, especially in the grey zone. Diffuse geographic independence, but dependent. And Demography, you have Citizen soldiers, guardian forces, and even merchants now play roles in conflicts, sometimes selling equipment to both sides," he said.

On India's specific context, he added, "By virtue of having two-and-a-half front challenges, we have to ensure that whatever technology is coming in, it adjusts itself within five generations of warfare, from trench to hybrid to fifth-generation warfare."

He added that the India Army is looking at human-centric technology and is also considering generation-7 technology, including mobiles and computers of that generation, video game consoles and 7 nanomillion technology for microchips.

The COAS said, "Industry 4.0 has moved to Industry 5.0... 4.0 was when the AI, quantum and all this were talked about. But 5.0 has realised that the rebalancing is required to bring in the human element. Technology is there not to replace humans, but to support them... Now, why is it important for us, especially for the Indian army... This industry, 5.0, is music to my ears because we are looking at human-centric technology adoption. We look at humans amplified by AI. The creativity, the empathy factor, problem solving, and turning data into decisions must remain in control of the human beings."

"There is another thing called technology generation-7. The 7.0 technology is the new mobiles and computers of that generation, video game consoles and 7 nanomillion technology for microchip. All these combined together and on the table for me to integrate, interpret and thereafter make sure that the Indian Army gets to gain from it," General Dwivedi added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan also noted how technology is gradually "taking over and overshadowing" geography when it comes to being the most important factor in deciding strategy for modern warfare.

General Anil Chauhan emphasised that tactics and strategy decide the outcome of a war, noting that these factors were largely derived from geography in the past, but that has begun to change.

"Warfare and winning in warfare are basically dependent on strategy... Largely, if you look at the past, strategy was largely derived from geography, but gradually, the element of technology is taking over and overshadowing geography," CDS Gen Anil Chauhan said.

The Delhi Defence Dialogue 2025 is a two-day event organised by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) on the theme 'Harnessing New Age Technology for Defence Capability Development'. It was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

- ANI