With the future of warfare set to change India is gearing up to be prepared for ‘non-contact wars’, and the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) is working to boost the technical expertise of the defence forces in air, on water and on land.
Speaking at the 55th Institute Day of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras here recently, Defence Secretary and director general of the DRDO Avinash Chander said that the future of warfare was going to be non-contact warfare, and that India was therefore developing unmanned systems and robotics, and preparing for conflicts under water.
He said in the next 40 to 50 years, seventy per cent of engagement would be through unmanned systems. He added that with technological expertise, the way the war was being fought was changing. “Tomorrow’s war is about assured kill. Accuracy has improved from a few metres to sub metres,” he said.
He said that the country was focusing on robotics and on gaining the upper hand in underwater warfare.
“We will be forced to explore the bottom of the ocean where new conflicts will evolve, and we have to prepare for that,” he said.
He highlighted how defence technology had shaped the US economy, while stressing the need to develop research in the field.
He said while the strength of the country was in the service sector, to become an economic power the focus should be on manufacturing. He added that scientific and academic institutions must focus on innovation and not on repeating experiments and reproducing products. Ruing that the industry in India spent the lowest on research and development, he said the government, scientific institutions and industry should work to change innovative hubs and make them part of technology growth. He said the country, instead of catching up with technology, should become a leader in technology.