DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION – Domination of the Air Space

The need of the hour is to be strong. China respects strength and we are strong, but we need to look at the realities and how technology is moving. We need to identify areas in which we must move forward and really take domination of aerospace to the next level.

We have the ability to dominate today at the time of choosing but the definition of domination, the extent of it and everything concerning operations is moving rapidly. Therefore, I think the single most important issue that is being discussed now – networking, digitization, the ability to shorten the loop – whichever way you put it – is the most important issue. While I will not be able to go into the depth of many of the issues, where we are and what we have done, I will address issues as far as the Air Force is concerned, and what we need to do.

I will share with you my experience in building important networks having a bearing on war waging capability and the way forward in achieving enhanced domination of air space.

Keeping Pace

First, we need to integrate much more and, second, we need to move forward rapidly. The digitization scenario is changing very rapidly. Our basic structures in our procurement, decision-making, the way we integrate, the time we take, how the industry moves, how we ourselves move – all these need to be looked at. We cannot have open-ended timelines, we need to move fast and we need to absorb. While technology is being absorbed we should look at the next level straight away. What you implement today, will be good for the next two to three years. We should always be moving to the next level. So that is the background with which I would like to start.

Integration is the Key

Air Space domination implies being able to rapidly and accurately engage all targets while they are mobile or static, in the air, on land, over the sea, in a chosen time space. To achieve this capability, integration of all available airborne platforms, ground-based weapon systems and decision grade in particular, is essential. I think the decision-grade is something we tend to miss out or not implement in full. We are well aware that the process of transforming linear decision-making process into a well integrated information and knowledge-based network is the basic essence of digitization in terms of direction it should take in the armed forces.

Shortening the OODA Cycle

Infusion of information technology (IT) at the turn of the century ushered in a revolution in military affairs (RMA), that went on to fundamentally alter the nature of warfighting. Now network-centric capability seamlessly fuses all elements of war fighting to create a very high level of battlefield awareness that can be and should be effectively exploited to dominate operations in that area. The key components of these capabilities are the sensors, such as radar, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) platforms, AWACS (airborne warning and control system), satellites, etc. The shooters, both manned and unmanned and the decision makers in the loop control the air battle at all levels starting from the tactical level or the individual level in the cockpit or the combat system right up to the formations and back to the decision makers on the ground. This synergy is critical to compress the OODA – observe, orient, decide and act – cycle and this is really the essence as far as our ability to dominate is concerned. In air wars, it would apply simultaneously in parallel layers – the pilot in the cockpit who is handling the threats or the targets to the formation in parallel. The formation leader would be taking decisions in the entire area in which air battle manager would be taking parallel decisions. Also going backwards to Command HQ or commands whose assets are deployed in the air war that is going on in that area – to the extent that between Commands and Air HQs, in parallel, seamless thinking and decision-making in terms of real time results and how that particular battle changes the scenario to the next one or the parallel one. So, the whole scheme of things needs to move fast and whoever can do that better would win the situation. As you are all aware air power application is not only time sensitive but inherently escalatory in nature particularly in No War No Peace scenario and that is also to be kept in mind.

Digitisation Facilitates Flexibility

All this mandates high level of visibility into battle space to enable commanders to take quick and accurate decisions that will ensure that the campaign achieves the desired level. It is for these reasons that air operations, in particular, are planned centralized and executed decentralized. That is the way the Air Force functions and we have the capability to plan and execute from one location or two locations in parallel. We can today conduct operations, for example, from Delhi across many commands and bring to bear the assets onto one area or chosen areas as we decide. It need not be from Delhi, the same can be done from a location somewhere else. That is the flexibility and capability that digitization and networking brings, provided we integrate it and correctly incorporate it into our operational systems and thinking. Complete visibility of plans accords very high degree of flexibility at the operational level. It also effects dynamic changes which are in play in shifting air battle. Thus, real time decision-making such as rerouting fighter aircraft to destroy alternative targets or more important targets, or dynamic switching of roles of the force in the air to cater to any emerging enemy threat is a norm even today rather than an exception. This needs to become the high point of our ability in network-centric operations in the future.

NCW Projects

With aerospace sector being highly technology intensive, I have been on the path of transformation towards network-centric warfare (NCW) capability for over a decade. The process protocol started way back in 2006, when pan-India multi-protocol level optical system with modern IT-based technology came into effect. Based on this the AFNET, the backbone of Air Force was founded, which provided us an ultra high-speed communication and real time data sharing. What we started then has fructified today pan-India. But having done that, what we need to do now is to modify and to upgrade it at pace that has to be much faster. The success and lessons of the AFNET project laid the base for the next evolutionary step, which involved integration and networking of our sensors, progress towards processing capabilities, and keeping the IT infrastructure abreast of requirements. This has been achieved by integrating all the sensors like long range radars, AWACS and including civil service radars, aerostats and satellites, which empowers the Air Force to dominate an area, firstly with the information about the area, thereafter with our assets. The evolution of IACCS (Integrated Air Command & Control System), which is a C4I element has resulted in seamless air space surveillance capability. Now, AI and automation has shortened the sensor to shooter loop making targeting highly responsive as it has added another layer on top of it. We need to look at these hybrid systems and other advancements that have made decision-making faster and dynamic targeting a reality today.  

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Combat planning and automated decision-making is being developed in-house by the IAF, which will integrate air campaign planning and execution, including war gaming. This is something that we have launched this year, which will again pave the way for really being networked. Such initiatives in operations is the only way to automate the battlefield functions of tactical echelons and then establish an integrated command management system. Concurrently, we have also been actively partnering with industry to expand our digitization and automation footprint across multiple domains, which indirectly enhances our capability to undertake operations. A leading IT firm, Wipro, has developed an electronics maintenance management system (EMMS) and it has been successful. IACCS has done very well and EMMS has now become one of the world’s largest maintenance management systems with complete digital workflow across all platforms of the IAF. This is already fructified today. This is the pace with at which we have moved fortunately with indigenous industry. Our predecessors took that call and that is the only way you can keep your information secure and have the ability to make amends and modifications. Likewise, our e-governance projects, which have undertaken, will achieve enhanced automation and paperless workflow by this year end on nearly on all operational, administrative and maintenance related activities in the IAF.

Tri-Services Integration

Tri-Services integration is the next logical step in this evolution of information centric warfare. Individual service specific C4i systems are already in place. We need to construct joint and integrated C4I systems. Convergence of tactical data system, which automates the process of situational awareness and information across the entire battlespace is a key requirement. One of the challenges in such integration is the development of information islands within each Service with a robust security mechanism – and this is important – because the moment you digitize, vulnerability on security front needs to be really tight. We can share a lot on this in terms of our own experience. These information islands can be overlaid on a common tri-Service grid and serve to provide the requisite data without causing information overload. To this end the NFS is one such medium of convergence while we try to have tri-Service network capability.

Lessons Learnt

While the IAF has made considerable strides in its quest for dominating the information and networking domain, I would like to dwell on a few important lessons also which we have learnt in our journey.

First and foremost is the fact that frequent software and hardware changes have a negative impact on the transformation efforts. And the hardware changes fast. We really have to be a little visionary in the process – what we choose and how fast we do. We need to formulate a process that organizations requirements across destroying individual weapon systems, integrating systems such as EWO or common degree platforms (which we have done recently) but has led us to reverse engineer systems due to incompatibility with other systems. This is one of the major lessons from the recent past, which we have learnt. This would increase when we try to integrate many other different legacy systems. Policies and process of digitization or automation must lead to balance in developing systems that leverage the latest and best technology while having systems that are stable and combat ready.

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Second major lesson is in the area of software development life cycle itself. I already mentioned that this is an area that needs to move fast and I think that the strength is that if you follow the indigenous route it will give strength to move faster. The industry also needs to recognize this and have a shorter loop in terms of their own decision-making and have a little more open-minded approach towards the requirements. With the operational urgency to develop or digitize products we invariably employ the standard spiral model, which has resulted in faster building of software but which comes with a new set of problems. To provide users with software, equipment with critical points, developers are often forced to release software before perfection and then continually field upgrades. We have seen this in many projects. At times it is also for cutting costs, which is just too bad and these are the issues the industry needs to handle. A better approach would be to decide on what we call software drops so that unwanted features are identified mutually and cut out on the development side.

Cyber Defence

In the cyber domain, though we have moved towards the Defence Cyber Agency, DSA and Service specific cyber groups, we still need to walk a good distance ahead to achieve all our operational objectives. A lot of work has started in this area too. As military communications, sensing, logistics, maintenance and C2I has increasingly been digitized and inter-connected, cyber defence has become a vital element of enhancing the digital capabilities of our forces and networks. Our aerospace systems and information systems are increasingly inter-twined and, hence, the potential of cyber attack is huge. More importantly, the potential of real time damage is huge. For example, the Conflicker worm attack in 2009, led to short term grounding of the Rafale fleet. If it happens at the wrong time, it can be critical. This is the scenario that needs to be avoided at all costs.

Emerging Technologies

Most of our systems are moving ahead and we have invested towards technological advancements, such as software defined networking. The Air Force is doing a lot in AI. Many of our systems and their integration is shortening the timeframe of analysis, particularly through Big Data analytics in EW. There are emerging technologies like quantum computing which we need to look at. Some of you may be aware that Google is already building a quantum computer to accomplish a task in 200 seconds what the fastest computer available today will take 10,000 years. This is what we are talking about in the years to come. While quantum computing is still is the nascent stage, with respect to military applications, we must see the technology both as an enabler or disrupter in the near future. China is investing large amount in such technologies. This is an area that we need to look at as a nation.

In these emergent technologies, it is only through a national effort that we can keep pace and not be left behind. The industry really has to look at the future carefully, leapfrog and catch up in these fields and build our networking ability so that we can dominate the areas we want.

Operational Fallback Systems

Finally, while digitization is the need of the hour, any lasting solution must go beyond basic network connectivity and cyber security. That is just the basic requirement. Also, defence planners need to maintain a backup, analog or appropriate systems in order to ensure minimum operational capacity, in case of digital blackouts or disruption due to cyber attacks. This is very critical area. Before we take up any networking project, there has to be an operational fallback option. It should nothappen that we depend on networks to such an extent that lack of network or operational fallback disrupts our ability to dominate. If we are not careful this can easily happen.

We need to enable our leaders to have a deep understanding of the warfare in the context of information. Manning digitized environments presents a major challenge in military eco system as we are forced to compete with private sector for qualified young men and women. We are still not self-reliant in terms of IT infrastructure with hardware being dominated by China and operating systems being dominated by US. However, we can offset the same by efficient programming, coding and developing of algorithms. This is an area that should become our strength, apart from taking some long-term look and calls on issues of software and hardware towards our applications itself, both in the industrial and military domains. This is one area that can propel us into network domination in the future.

Extract from a talk by Air Chief Mshl RKS Bhadauria given at an IMR webinar on Digitisation and Networking in the Armed Forces on 23 Nov 2020. Transcribed by Prithish Roy.

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Military and civil radars are being increasingly co-located in various parts of the country to provide seamless control of respective airspaces.

Integrated Air Command Control Communications System