New Delhi: Army Chief General Mano Pandey on Tuesday said the current geo-strategic landscape is changing at an "unprecedented" scale and pace, stressing that military strength and capabilities are essential to prevent wars.
Recent geopolitical powerplays have demonstrated that where national interests are concerned, countries will "not hesitate" to go to war. These developments have confirmed the relevance of hard power, he said during an event here.
The Army Chief participated in the AIMA National Leadership Conclave and spoke on 'Hard Power: Modernization of Forces through Self-Reliance'. He said a nation can be said to be holistically uplifted when there are significant and There is continuous growth.While "economic strength" is the source of the nation's development, it is "military strength" that provides it with the ability to "influence outcomes" required to protect and pursue its diverse interests across expanding strategic horizons, the Army Chief said. Said.
The current geostrategic landscape is characterized by change, unprecedented scale and pace. Recent geopolitical powerplays have demonstrated that where national interests are at stake, countries will not hesitate to go to war. GE Pandey said these developments have reaffirmed the relevance of hard power, he said, in preventing war or presenting "credible deterrence" as well as war-winning threats when needed across "the entire spectrum of conflict." Military strength and capabilities are essential to enable a strong response.He also outlined the factors that play a role in shaping hard power capabilities through 'atmanirbharta' or self-reliance.
The Army Chief said unprecedented trends in the geo-strategic landscape, unlimited potential of disruptive technologies, the changing nature of modern warfare and profound changes in the socio-economic sphere are the four key drivers of the transformation efforts of the Indian Army. .In the quest to achieve and maintain the country's 'hard power', "we need to be conscious of the implications of external dependence to meet defense requirements". He said supply chain disruptions and the impact of weaponization or denial-of-service systems were also highlighted during the pandemic and from the lessons of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“These developments have underlined that the nation's security can neither be outsourced nor depend on the generosity of others.In terms of capacity development, we must be dependent on imports for critical technologies if we rely on countries that have them. Very clearly we will always be one technology cycle behind,” General Pandey said.
He stressed that the Army's vision for the future is to transform into a modern agile, adaptive, technology-enabled and self-reliant future-ready force capable of deterring and winning wars in multi-domain operational environments. Operating to protect our national interests, in synergy with other services”. He said the transformation roadmap comprises five pillars – adaptation, modernization and assimilation of technology, improvement in system processes and functions, human resource management and support services. To promote togetherness and integration.The Army is working on new and unique technologies to be integrated into combat systems. The Army Chief said this is being made effective through a focused capability development and maintenance roadmap, in line with the force's commitment towards 'self-reliance'.
He underlined that to achieve 'self-reliance', it is important to create an effective defence-industry ecosystem in the country. The fundamental basis for developing the desired defence-industry ecosystem is resource allocation, enabling government policies and provisions, viable markets and competition. The Army Chief said the key areas of technology dissemination are in all areas of warfare, mobility and Procurement to improve protection includes light strike vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, light specialist vehicles and BulletPro jackets.Battlefield situational awareness is being enhanced through border surveillance systems and nano drones. For target acquisition and accurate firing, "we have swarm drones, loiter munitions and new artillery platforms like 155 mm MGS TGS, K9 Vajra, ATAGS, and new generation munitions which are terminally guided or canister launched" .
Night fighting capability is being enhanced through night sights for small arms and hand-held thermal imagers. He said the effectiveness of communications is being upgraded through software-defined radios. The Army is also deploying terrain-specific electronic warfare systems, drones and anti-drone systems.Logistics capabilities and efficiencies are being enhanced by employing logistics drones. The Army Chief said there are plans to induct new weapon platforms for mechanized forces such as Light Tank and Future Infantry Combat Vehicle and Army aviators such as Medium Altitude Long Endurance RPAS and LUH.
Apart from weapon systems and equipment, "we are working on 45 specific technologies that have been identified for military application," he said, adding that 12 indigenous projects are underway to develop and absorb these specific technologies. Our mantra will be 'modernization from indigenous'. Capability Development The military's pre-import defense contracts, which stood at 30 per cent 20 years ago, have been at almost zero per cent in the last two financial years.“Currently, our inventory comprises a mix of vintage, current and state-of-the-art equipment. We intend to substantially increase the ratio of vintage: current state-of-the-art equipment by 2030 while focusing on the self-reliant capacity development roadmap,” he said. Said.
Recent geopolitical powerplays have demonstrated that where national interests are concerned, countries will "not hesitate" to go to war. These developments have confirmed the relevance of hard power, he said during an event here.
The Army Chief participated in the AIMA National Leadership Conclave and spoke on 'Hard Power: Modernization of Forces through Self-Reliance'. He said a nation can be said to be holistically uplifted when there are significant and There is continuous growth.While "economic strength" is the source of the nation's development, it is "military strength" that provides it with the ability to "influence outcomes" required to protect and pursue its diverse interests across expanding strategic horizons, the Army Chief said. Said.
The current geostrategic landscape is characterized by change, unprecedented scale and pace. Recent geopolitical powerplays have demonstrated that where national interests are at stake, countries will not hesitate to go to war. GE Pandey said these developments have reaffirmed the relevance of hard power, he said, in preventing war or presenting "credible deterrence" as well as war-winning threats when needed across "the entire spectrum of conflict." Military strength and capabilities are essential to enable a strong response.He also outlined the factors that play a role in shaping hard power capabilities through 'atmanirbharta' or self-reliance.
The Army Chief said unprecedented trends in the geo-strategic landscape, unlimited potential of disruptive technologies, the changing nature of modern warfare and profound changes in the socio-economic sphere are the four key drivers of the transformation efforts of the Indian Army. .In the quest to achieve and maintain the country's 'hard power', "we need to be conscious of the implications of external dependence to meet defense requirements". He said supply chain disruptions and the impact of weaponization or denial-of-service systems were also highlighted during the pandemic and from the lessons of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“These developments have underlined that the nation's security can neither be outsourced nor depend on the generosity of others.In terms of capacity development, we must be dependent on imports for critical technologies if we rely on countries that have them. Very clearly we will always be one technology cycle behind,” General Pandey said.
He stressed that the Army's vision for the future is to transform into a modern agile, adaptive, technology-enabled and self-reliant future-ready force capable of deterring and winning wars in multi-domain operational environments. Operating to protect our national interests, in synergy with other services”. He said the transformation roadmap comprises five pillars – adaptation, modernization and assimilation of technology, improvement in system processes and functions, human resource management and support services. To promote togetherness and integration.The Army is working on new and unique technologies to be integrated into combat systems. The Army Chief said this is being made effective through a focused capability development and maintenance roadmap, in line with the force's commitment towards 'self-reliance'.
He underlined that to achieve 'self-reliance', it is important to create an effective defence-industry ecosystem in the country. The fundamental basis for developing the desired defence-industry ecosystem is resource allocation, enabling government policies and provisions, viable markets and competition. The Army Chief said the key areas of technology dissemination are in all areas of warfare, mobility and Procurement to improve protection includes light strike vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, light specialist vehicles and BulletPro jackets.Battlefield situational awareness is being enhanced through border surveillance systems and nano drones. For target acquisition and accurate firing, "we have swarm drones, loiter munitions and new artillery platforms like 155 mm MGS TGS, K9 Vajra, ATAGS, and new generation munitions which are terminally guided or canister launched" .
Night fighting capability is being enhanced through night sights for small arms and hand-held thermal imagers. He said the effectiveness of communications is being upgraded through software-defined radios. The Army is also deploying terrain-specific electronic warfare systems, drones and anti-drone systems.Logistics capabilities and efficiencies are being enhanced by employing logistics drones. The Army Chief said there are plans to induct new weapon platforms for mechanized forces such as Light Tank and Future Infantry Combat Vehicle and Army aviators such as Medium Altitude Long Endurance RPAS and LUH.
Apart from weapon systems and equipment, "we are working on 45 specific technologies that have been identified for military application," he said, adding that 12 indigenous projects are underway to develop and absorb these specific technologies. Our mantra will be 'modernization from indigenous'. Capability Development The military's pre-import defense contracts, which stood at 30 per cent 20 years ago, have been at almost zero per cent in the last two financial years.“Currently, our inventory comprises a mix of vintage, current and state-of-the-art equipment. We intend to substantially increase the ratio of vintage: current state-of-the-art equipment by 2030 while focusing on the self-reliant capacity development roadmap,” he said. Said.
