RECENT POSTS
IW Structures for the Indian Armed Forces – Part II
Part I of this four part series dwelt upon and clarified the terminologies, concepts and doctrines which this work uses as a basis for proposing effective and viable IW structures for the Indian Armed Forces. In this second part, the areas of convergence as well as differences amongst CO, EW and Psy W components of IO are first brought out. Thereafter, some considerations which determine the manner in which these capabilities are operationally deployed in an integrated manner are discussed.
IW Structures for the Indian Armed Forces – Part I
The primary focus of this four part series is to suggest IW structures for the Indian Armed Forces which are effective enough to match up to the challenges of 21st Century warfare. This analysis takes cognizance of the fact that there is deep resistance to change within the Indian military hierarchy, despite the radical changes taking place in modern warfare concepts. Therefore, a transformational – as opposed to a (preferred) revolutionary – approach is adopted towards achieving the desired capabilities. In this first part, an attempt is made to dwell upon and clarify the terminologies, concepts and doctrines which are taken as the basis for proposing effective and viable IW structures for the Indian Armed Forces.
Cyberspace Operations: National Strategy and Doctrine
Cyberwar can no longer be brushed off as fantasy or “hype” and is very much a phenomenon in the realm of reality. Indeed, several instances of cyber-attacks have already taken place which lend themselves to be classified as acts of cyberwar at the national strategic level. Thus, it is imperative that necessary steps be taken to secure our national cyberspace on a war footing, even as initiatives to usher in Digital India are being taken forward in right earnest. It would not be far off the mark to state that the focus so far in India has been on cyber-crime, hactivism and industrial cyber espionage, while state-level cyber warfare, offensive and defensive, has not received the consideration it deserves. There is an urgent need, therefore, to conceptualizing the right strategy and doctrine for defending our national cyberspace. This piece attempts to discuss this critical issue at some length.
Network Centric Warfare : A Command & Control Concept
While networks and information management are central to the concept of Network Centric Warfare (NCW), it is important to emphasize that NCW is essentially a Command & Control concept. Further, NCW is also related to the notions of Self-Synchronisation of forces, “Power to the Edge”, Effects Based Operations (EBO) and the concept of Agility. All of these are various facets of how command & control is effected on the battlefield. In this write-up, these ideas are stitched together and discussed.
Cyberspace: The Fifth Dimension of Warfare – Part II
The dimensions of warfare have evolved over the centuries from Land and Sea to encompass Air and Outer Space in the 20th Century. With the heavy dependence on networks in the 21st Century, Cyberspace is emerging as an increasingly contested domain, with critical importance for the projection of military force. In the first part of this two-piece write-up, the emergence of Cyberspace as an operational domain of warfare, as well as the types and classifications of cyber-attacks/ cyberwar were discussed. In this part, some real-world examples of cyberwar over the past decade will be described, and certain doctrinal aspects related to offensive cyberwar strategies as well as some legal implications of conducting cyberwar will be dwelt upon.
Cyberspace: The Fifth Dimension of Warfare – Part I
The dimensions of warfare have evolved over the centuries from Land and Sea to encompass Air and Outer Space in the 20th Century. With the heavy dependence on networks in the 21st Century, Cyberspace is emerging as an increasingly contested domain, with critical importance for the projection of military force. Here, in a two-piece write-up, we discuss the emergence of Cyberspace as an operational domain of warfare, deliberate on types and classifications of cyber-attacks/ cyberwar, briefly describe some real-world examples of cyberwar over the past decade, and finally dwell upon certain doctrinal aspects related to offensive cyberwar strategies as well as some legal implications of conducting cyberwar.
Network Centric Warfare Vis-a-vis Modern Warfighting Concepts
In an earlier two-part write up on “The Changing Nature of Warfare”, it was brought out how, over the centuries, warfare has undergone significant transformation due to new discoveries and innovative application of technologies, and how these inventions and discoveries have resulted in dramatic changes in military doctrine as well as operational and organisational concepts. In another post titled “21st Century Warfare: From ‘Battlefield’ to ‘Battlespace’,” the complex nature of the “arena” in which 21st century warfare is conducted, was examined. In this piece, an attempt is made to analyse the concept of Network Centric Warfare (NCW) as it relates to warfighting and battlespace concepts which have been discussed earlier.
21st Century Warfare: From “Battlefield” to “Battlespace”
It is the increasing complexity of the modern warfighting arena which has prompted the replacement of the traditionally used term “battlefield” by the term “battlespace” in doctrinal literature, as the former tends to implicitly highlight the pre-dominance of land based operations over others, while “battlespace” as a term has a neutral flavour with respect to the nature of the arena. In recent years, several modern armies have adopted the five-dimensional model, comprising of the land, sea, air, space and cyberspace warfighting domains, in their military doctrines to define this battlespace. In this write-up this model, together with Cebrowski’s Domains of Conflict construct, is reviewed and analysed.
Artificial Intelligence in Military Operations: An Overview – Part II
This is the second of a two-part article which focuses on development and fielding of LAWS against the backdrop of rapid advances in the field of AI. Here, international as well as Indian perspectives are given out on the current status and future prospects for development and deployment of LAWS. This part reviews the status of AI technology in India, assesses the current capability of the Indian Army (IA) to adapt to this technology, and suggest steps which need to be taken on priority to ensure that Indian defence forces keep pace with other advanced armies in the race to usher in a new AI-triggered Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA).
Information Operations: Origins and Fundamentals – Part II
Information Warfare (IW) is expected to play an increasingly dominant role in twenty first century conflict, wherein military superiority is a composite function of combat, electronic and information superiority. Various armies are continuously evolving their concepts, doctrines and roadmaps for operationalising IW concepts. This two-part write-up attempts to introduce the concept of IW/ Information Operations (IO). Here in Part II of the write-up, some well-accepted IW taxonomies are first given out, followed by a brief overview of the notion of Information Superiority. Finally, some comments are made on the status of IW in the Indian context.