‘Golden Dome’ will be India’s shield & sword, to be ready in 10 yrs: CDS

India is readying a new, potent air defence system — Golden Dome — that incorporates multiple systems such as missiles and radars to create a “shield” and also act as a “sword” against enemy threats, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Anil Chauhan, said here today.

“It will act as both a shield and a sword, and will be indigenous… the target is to have it ready in 10 years,” said the CDS. He referred to it as the Golden Dome, probably in line with the Iron Dome — the Israel air defence system.

The CDS said “some lessons” from Operation Sindoor had already been implemented. General Chauhan was delivering the key-note address at the “Ran Samwad (conversation about warfare)”, a two-day (August 26 and 27) brainstorming seminar themed “Impact of Technology on Warfare”. It was hosted by the Army War College here.

The new system entails the development of robust infrastructure and processes for detection, acquisition and neutralisation of enemy missiles, drones and planes using weapons and directed-energy weapons.

According to defence sources, the new air defence system will look to integrate assets such as satellites. It will have radars that can look at an altitude of 60 to 80 km because most modern-day missiles travel to a certain altitude and then take a downward trajectory to hit the target.

The armed forces are looking at the integration of systems on ground, air, maritime, under sea and space. The data will be networked to present a common picture for the commander. Artificial intelligence (AI), advanced computation, data analytics and quantum technology will be used for analysis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned the air defence system in his Independence Day speech and had called it “Sudarshan Chakra”. The CDS gave out the military contours of the upcoming system.

On Operation Sindoor, the CDS said “it was a modern conflict and we learnt a number of lessons. Some of these are under implementation”.

India, he said, “was a peace-loving nation. However, we cannot be pacifists. Peace without power is utopian”.

The two-day event is dwelling on what kind of wars will happen in the future. The CDS said contemporary warfare today was a kind of continuum of five Cs — competition, crisis, confrontation, conflict and combat. He described the new matrix of victory as “speed and tempo of operations”.

The two-day event also aims to define needs of a technology-aided battle of future and lay down the conduct of joint operations by the Army, Navy and the IAF. A few joint doctrines, technology perspective and a capability roadmap will also be released at the event.