HEADLINE: India moves towards a digitised battlefield By Sarosh Bana* INTRODUCTION: The Indian battle space is slowly but surely shifting from platform-centric to network-centric In a visibly networked world, Information Technology (IT) has evolved as a crucial element of contemporary defence. India has belatedly recognised the imperative of a Cyber Warfare Infrastructure (CWI) that would be ideally jointly developed by private and public enterprise. Such architecture for facilitating battle management would span electro-optical targeting equipment, tactical intelligence, combat communications, and night-vision systems. With its enormous application in network-centric warfare (NCW) - or cyber warfare communications, instrumentation in modern arsenals, and upgradation of military hardware, IT in defence can far outperform its role in other sectors because of the sheer size of the military establishment. Driven by its momentous advancements in ‘electronic battlefield technology’ since the 1990s, the Israel Defence Force has developed its CWI most effectively, rendering the country unrivalled in the Middle East as regards battle management. Acknowledging the need for a CWI, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has predicated it on the creation of a C4ISR - Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance – backbone. “It is vital to leverage the information grid as a force multiplier and as an enabler for the soldier as well as the commander in the battlefield,” says a senior MoD official. “The skill lies in integrating these systems so as to forge the different services into a unified, formidable, co-ordinated fighting force.” This realisation for creating a strong, robust and secure cyber command has come rather late in the day, though India has been at the vanguard of software programming. Indeed, the concept of a military doctrine was first enunciated in India, when Kautilya – also known by the name of Chanakya – had authored his Arthashastra in the 4th century BC as a treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy in a monarchical state. The country besides has the world’s second largest standing army, after China, and has for some years been the world’s biggest arms purchaser. A military of that level bereft of a tactical battlefield command, control and communication system can find itself grossly disadvantaged and can compromise national security at a crucial time. India has a defence budget to match the scale of its military. It is as much as Rs2,03,672.10 crore* ($37.4 billion) for 2013-14, Rs86,741 crore ($15.93 billion, or 42.6 per cent) of that earmarked for capital acquisition and modernisation. Though no official figures are available, it is assumed that 5 per cent of this, that is, over Rs4,330 crore ($795 million), is allotted towards NCW systems. The Indian army is being honed into a largely network-centric force by 2017, guided by its vision “to achieve electronic and information superiority for effective functioning”. Chief of Army Staff, General Bikram Singh, has called for all efforts to be made towards a mobile communications umbrella based on reliable, mobile, high-speed convergence networks that are inter-operable with even legacy systems that can function in a joint services environment. Underscoring the MoD’s desire to move towards a digitised battlefield with the active participation of the private sector, the ministry official notes, “The government is exploring all viable initiatives
such as the formation of consortia, joint ventures and public-private partnerships.” The Indian military industry has failed to grow to the extent desired as defence production has largely been the purview of state-controlled enterprise, though private industry is making some headway of late. There is also little official communication on national defence as the government deems it ‘highly sensitive’. “I am not aware of anyone who has tried to understand the IT needs of the armed forces,” says Vijay Mukhi, a pioneer of the Indian IT Industry and a consultant on cyber laws. “They are a closed circle and do not interact with anyone.” “Resurgent India has a dominant role in world affairs,” avers Defence minister A.K. Antony. “Towards this, the Indian armed forces have a great responsibility in keeping our borders secure and the Corps of Signals, on its part, has to harness the Information, Communications, Technology, Electronics and Cyber (ICTEC) resources to ensure an overwhelming information superiority at all times.” It is this lack of information and intelligence inputs that exposed Indian frontier defences against the recent incursion by Chinese troops into the eastern Ladakh region. The perilous stand-off ended with a voluntary retreat by the intruders. While the Defence Information Assurance and Research Agency oversees cyber security of the country’s defences, an elaborate cyber security infrastructure is simultaneously being finalised, with the National Cyber Security Coordinator as its overarching body. K. Ganesh Raj, Partner and Leader at Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd for Aerospace and Defence Practice, explains that NCW products and systems are mainly integration of dual use technologies. “The development of indigenous capability has been gathering momentum with the participation from both the public as well as the private sectors,” he says. “The MoD’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and some big Indian companies have developed, co-developed and absorbed NCW-related technologies well.” Besides DRDO and its various labs, some of the organisations involved in various network-centric projects are the state-owned Bharat Electricals Ltd (BEL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Electronic Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) and the private sector Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, L&T and Roltas. According to Raj, BEL and DRDO’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics have been chosen for developing the Artillery Combat, Command and Control System. BEL, Tata, ECIL and CMC Ltd are setting up the Tactical Command, Control, Communications and Information (TACC3I) system for field formations. Ground-based Electronic Warfare projects are being produced by BEL, CMC and Tata Power Strategic Electronics Division. And while the Army Wide Area Network will be set up by Tata Infotech and Wipro, BEL will be developing the Air Defence Control and Reporting System. The army has placed an order with Bangalore-based Encore Software Ltd for 390 devices that are billed by the manufacturer to be the world’s first handheld battle computer. Branded SATHI (Situation Awareness and Tactical Handheld Information), these devices are made for infantry sub-units and are being tried out in the field at present. The overall concept of SATHI is to deploy a dynamic and ad hoc radio network of handheld computers within a team in the area of operations. It provides a Common Operating Picture and regular and automatic updates and two-way data communication over the Combat Net Radio network by connecting one of the computers of the team to an external longer range radio. Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), a DRDO laboratory based in Pune, has developed F-INSAS (Futuristic Infantry Soldier as a System) that is designed to turn India’s infantrymen into fully-networked, digitised, self-contained 21 st century warriors. F-INSAS will be
rolled out in stages by 2020 and is said to be similar in scope and objectives to infantry modernisation projects like the US Army’s Future Force Warrior initiative. There is no doubt that the networked communications of India’s armed forces need to be substantially upgraded, says Brigadier (retd) Gurmeet Kanwal of New Delhi think tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). He feels that though the under construction optical fibre network will go a long way in providing modern land-line communications, future communication systems will need to provide wide-band data capabilities to facilitate real time transmission of images and battlefield video while on the move. A Department of Information Technology (DIT) document foresees the role of IT in defence expanding with the new focus on cyber security. Urging focusing on areas with higher technology intensity, the report notes that integrated software-hardware will play a key role in emerging areas such as homeland security, C4ISR, cyber warfare, and systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. * 1 crore = 10 million BOX: Network Centric Warfare Network-Centric Warfare (NCW) leverages information technology to improve situational awareness, command and control, and actionable intelligence. It focuses on the combat power that can be generated by the effective linking or networking of the war-fighting machinery and organisations. Network-centric operations enable sharing information on real-time basis between widely dispersed forces and diverse platforms. The four fundamental requirements for NCW are networked communications, information sharing, advanced information technologies such as agents and decision-support algorithms, and networked-enabled platforms such as vehicles, tanks, ships, aircraft and other weapon systems. Typically, a networked environment comprises of three ‘grids’. · Sensor Grid: Collates information from multiple sensors and helps generate a common operational picture for shared awareness of the ‘battle space’. This field relates to Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) that will keep track of enemy and own forces movements through advanced sensors and platforms like aircraft, UAVs, and satellites assisted by Global Positioning Systems (GPS). · Information Grid: Enables exchange or dissemination of information such as operational status, information for logistics and personnel management. The technology trend is in the field of Integrative Technologies, that is, communications, computers, command and control, information and interoperability (C4I2). · Weapon Grid: Enables integration of multiple weapon systems in field and air formations to optimise delivery on selected targets. The networking of long-range precision firepower of the three services ensures optimum effect on the target, allowing the integrated force commander to use the most appropriate and effective weapons. * Sarosh Bana Executive Editor Business India 52 Bakhtawar (main) 22 Narayan Dabholkar Road Mumbai 400 006 India Tel: 0091-9821388386.