Army Chief highlights self-reliance among 4 transformation targets

The two were speaking at separate sessions at the inaugural day of the two-day Chanakya Defence Dialogue in New Delhi.

General Dwivedi termed the four targets for transformation as ‘springboards’ that will drive the Indian Army’s change in the upcoming years. These four targets will be a part of the three-phased graded plan to transform till 2047.

He said the first target was self-reliance, empowerment through indigenisation. He said, “It remains our first springboard. Its results are visible in the field of defence manufacturing, space achievements and rapid absorption of military technology. Yet much more remains to be done as we deepen our self-reliant capability base.”

According to General Dwivedi, having accelerated innovations is the second ‘springboard’. “We must move on from experimentation to enterprise-scale impact at a much faster pace in the fields of AI, cyber, quantum, autonomous systems, space and advanced materials,” he said.

The third ‘springboard’ is adaptation, reforming the ecosystem. General Dwivedi said the fourth and last ‘springboard’ is the military-civil fusion. The development of warfighting capabilities is a multi-agency, multi-modal endeavour wherein the troika of academia, industry and the military must achieve deep cross-domain synergy, he added.

Talking about a three-phase plan to transform the Army, he said, “The Army has envisioned Phase-1 till 2032. It includes comprehensive framework under the decade of transformation or accelerated transition. The phase-2, which will be undertaken between 2032 and 2037, will focus on consolidated gains from phase 1. During the phase -3 from 2037 to 2047, we will graduate to the next level of integrated and future-ready force design.”

The Army Chief said ‘5-S approach -- Sammaan, Samvaad, Saiyog, Samridhi and Sulaksha (respect, dialogue, cooperation, prosperity and security)’ would drive the Army’s progress.

At the same event, the Chief of Defence Staff said military affairs were witnessing a second revolution, which is about net-centric warfare. He said technology was making geography a bit irrelevant. “Technology is going to be one of the most defining factors of future war,” the CDS said.

“Besides, a number of technologies are converging together to define a war winning strategy. Integrated networks, automation, robotics and cognitive tools now shape the tempo and outcomes of combat,” the CDS said, adding how unprecedented advances in stealth, precision and long-range missiles are shaping battles.

The battlefield is now transparent as sensors read electro-optical, infrared, magnetic, seismic, acoustic and chemical signatures.