On September 11, 2001, the world recoiled in horror as commercial airliners, transformed into weapons of terror, struck the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. The audacity of using civilian aircraft to paralyse the most powerful nation on Earth was unthinkable—until it happened. Now, imagine a scenario where such devastation is orchestrated not by suicidal hijackers but by hackers seizing remote control of aircraft systems. This is no longer a distant dystopian fantasy but a tangible threat, as Col Pavithran Rajan articulates in his prescient article, Visualising the AI Battle—A Realist Perspective.
The Mossad’s audacious pager attack on Hezbollah and the Chinese hacking of Mumbai’s electrical grid in 2020 demonstrate the potential for coordinated cyber-attacks. In the context of India and Pakistan, such asymmetric tactics could tip the scales. Operation Sindoor revealed China’s role not only as a supplier of military hardware but also as a provider of electronic cover, jamming Indian communications and anticipating troop movements.
The battlefield is no longer confined to tanks, jets, or missiles but extends to the digital realm, where entire systems—smartphones, electric vehicles, electrical grids, and communication networks—can be weaponised. Unlike conventional warfare, which seeks to minimise collateral damage, asymmetric technological warfare thrives on it.
India’s vulnerability to such tactics is stark. Its reliance on Chinese components in critical sectors—space, missiles, AI, robotics, and green energy—poses a strategic risk. The recent warning by Bajaj Auto’s chairman about the potential disruption of rare earth mineral supplies, vital for everything from automotive magnets to defense technologies, underscores this dependency.
Consider the Indian Railways, a lynchpin of the nation’s war effort. A hacked signalling system could trigger catastrophic accidents, paralysing troop and supply movements. Exploding smartphones, malfunctioning electric vehicles, hospital disruptions, and power outages could create chaos far removed from the defined battle spaces where India’s superior forces hold sway. General Chauhan’s admission that 15 per cent of the Indian Army’s efforts were devoted to countering Pakistan’s disinformation campaigns illustrates the potency of these tactics.
To navigate this new reality, India must pursue technological sovereignty. India needs to reduce dependence on foreign supply chains, particularly from adversarial nations like China, and developing indigenous capabilities in AI, cyber defense, and critical technologies. This is not merely a matter of economic self-reliance but a strategic imperative to safeguard national security. Yet, the intent of war remains unchanged—only the methods have transformed. This radical reinterpretation of conflict demands a reevaluation of India’s defense strategy, prioritising resilience against cyber and technological threats alongside conventional preparedness.
To prevail, India must embrace Rajan’s vision of technological sovereignty, only then can it secure its place in a world where the ontology of war has irrevocably shifted from steel to software, from fire to fear.
Shiv M Sahai is a Retd IPS, Distinguished Fellow, Rashtriya Raksha University, Council for Strategic and Defense Research