To highlight the need for synergy between the services and the industry amidst the current scenario of rapid technological advancements in avionics, stealth technology and precision strike capabilities of multiple aerial threat vehicles, a webinar was organised by Indian Military Review jointly with Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) 0n 5 -8 September 2020. The sessions included Contours of Aerial Threats, Emerging Technologies, Integrated Air Defence Battle & Challenges, Atmanirbharta in Air Defence and Tracking, Control & Reporting, Common Operational Picture.
Session 1 : Inaugural Session
Welcoming the delegates, Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, Director of CENJOWS mentioned that the aim of the event was to bring all stake holders on a common platform where armed forces can spell out their expectations from the Industry and the Industry could explain its capacity and concerns. During deliberations, the integration of new technologies, optimizing legacy system and an action plan for the way ahead would also be projected.
Inaugural Address
Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, gave the Inaugural Address. He covered a vast canvas of topics such as impact of COVID19 on geopolitics and geo-economics and its impact on the world order, the contours of which were still uncertain, the ongoing defence reforms, changing nature of warfare with various technological advancements and their effect on the war fighting, etc. He also spoke on several disruptive and enabling technologies and the challenges and opportunities these offered to the defence forces. He emphasised on the need for constant innovations to stay ahead for the future wars as well as carry out upgrades/ phasing out of the legacy systems with the aim to find the best solutions.
He said that the situation brought upon by COVID 19 was reminiscent of the Great Depression, under which the international relations faced great stress. This was forcing countries to adopt ‘Nation’s First approach’ which was antitheses to the multi-lateral and multi-polar relations. He remarked that India values emerging relationship with United states but, at the same time, we cherish our close ties with Russia.
Talking of ongoing reforms in the Ministry of Defence and in the armed forces, he asserted that, inter-services integration and civil military synergy were important for effective functioning of the armed forces. The reforms related to formation of joint commands. In particular, he discussed a great deal on the formation of Aerospace Defence Theatre and its ensuing advantages. He advocated flexible use of air space by aircraft, helicopters, UAVs and long-range vectors. He opined that C4I systems, modernisation of the AD systems, common communication between Services and integration with ISRO and DRDO would ultimately increase effectiveness of the AD system as well as avoid fratricides.
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Referring to the contours of air threat, he commented that in modern times, aircraft was a system of systems and very potent. In fact, now both missiles and aircraft complement each other. He opined that Indian security was not confined to the country but to extended security of the neighbourhood.
Keynote Address
Air Mshl HS Arora, Vice Chief of Air Staff delivered the Keynote Address. He said that future wars would present a dynamic and uncertain threat in several domains simultaneously. Now, apart from land, sea, air and space, we also face threats in the electromagnetic domain as well. Armed forces may need to fight in all dimensions simultaneously. In this environment, the emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) presented great opportunities. Talking of air defence, he asserted that IAF carries out the surveillance of entire Indian air space using C4I systems which enables centralised control and decentralised execution of the operations. He reminded that, unlike in the past, AD operations have now become quite complex, hence, conventional methodologies of conducting operations are no more relevant. Our AD philosophy needs to redefined, focusing on the area defence concept followed by the close-in defence. AD command when formed will enable integration of the AD systems of other Services, which will make AD more potent.
He concluded his address by asking the industry to manufacture AD systems that are light weight, mobile but at the same time very lethal.
Theme Address
Delivering the Theme Address, Lt Gen Naresh Chand, former DG Army AD, welcomed the initiative of the CDS in formation of joint air command. In his talk, he generally covered the historical perspective of the Army AD, which in the past was primarily with L-60 guns. He said that many of systems of 60’s vintage weapons are still being used. The modernisation was very slow. On the subject of emerging technologies, he discussed the attributes of the advanced US Patriot (PAC3) missile, which was erratic in the past but has evolved into a successful system. He was sure that DRDO was fully capable of developing similar technologies. He, however, was not in favour of reinventing the wheel by engaging in development of the technologies which have already matured. Instead, he favoured transfer of technology.
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On the proposal of an integrated aerospace defence theatre, he said that AD inherently works on jointness, hence, integrating all resources was, therefore, a good step. The environment in the tactical battle area (TBA) was very complex, where area of influence of the battle commander was increasing. It called for good coordination with the Air Force, which would be taken care of by the formation of Joint AD Command.
On indigenisation, he advocated persistent and imaginative approach of the R&D and Services. He was appreciative of the announcement of import denial list announced by the government. This he felt would eventually lead to the indigenous development and manufacture of weapons.
ADB Perspective
Maj Gen KV Jauhar, Addl DG Army Design Bureau (ADB) gave his perspective on indigenisation or achieving self reliance in manufacture of defence equipment. He said we faced three challenges in indigenisation. First, the high cost when faced with shrinking budgets. Second, technology relevance in our conditions and third, access to technologies because no one was willing to share niche technologies. ADB seeks collaboration with technical institutes, academia and the industry and has even signed memorandum of understanding with many of them to move forward. To reach out to academia, institutes and industry, ADB plans visits, seminars and presentations. He said that industry could get the cue to our future focus from the ADB website, where all requirements were explained. ADB’s efforts had been received well by the industry and academia. ADB has started a number of projects and invested Rs. 30,000 crores in a number of projects. ADB’s focus was on following eight technologies, ie, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum computing, autonomous technology, space and bio-technology.
Session 2 : Contours of Aerial Threat
The session was chaired by Air Mshl BR Krishna, Director General Air Ops, Air HQ.
Brig MKK Iyer, Vice President, Bharat Forge, spoke on an array of evolving aerial threats and ongoing technological advancements in the realm of aircraft, helicopters and drones/UAVs and missiles, directed energy weapons, microwave energy weapons and charged beam particle weapons. He also discussed other related areas that make these threat highly potent and difficult to neutralise. He spoke on advancements in communication systems, wide area surveillance system, engine technologies, armaments which can carry out precision attack from very large stand-off ranges. The other topics such as data warfare, air situation in the TBA, hypersonic technology, nano technology and its impact on flying machines, survivability of aircraft, EW suits and integrated defence countermeasures were also discussed.
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Mr Amit Jawade, Senior Manager Business Development, Saarloha Advanced Materials, spoke on the attributes and offerings of his company. Saarloha Advanced Materials belongs to the Kalyani Group. Its plant is located at Pune, which manufactures special steels which hitherto were imported and now being manufactured in the country itself. The steel is being used in wide specialised areas such as in manufacturing gun barrels, missile body casing, shells, etc. It was also used in the past by ISRO in manufacture of Chandrayan 1, Gaganyan and in rocket casing. Saarloha Advanced Materials occupies a pride of place in the industry in the journey for self reliance in manufacturing.
Mr Neer Barnhart, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, Israel made a presentation on Operational Air Defence Optimizer, which is a tool for achieving efficient and effective AD against multifarious aerial threats from varied platforms, aircraft, helicopters, drones, etc. It has the ability to integrate the sensor inputs, analyse the threats and select optimum response from various weapon options to neutralise the threats.
Gp Capt Vishal Malhotra, Gp Capt (Operations), Air HQ made a presentation on ‘Aerospace Threat’. He explained the characteristics of the air threat emanating in nuclear, conventional, sub-conventional and outer space domains. In these areas, he also carried out fact check of threats presented by China and Pakistan.
Col KV Kuber, Director Defence & Aerospace, Ernst & Young, gave the industry perspective. He talked about several high points of the Indian industry which has showcased developments in serval hi-tech and state-of-the-art technology areas in its journey towards Atamanirbhata. In that, he talked of exploits of DPSUs and private industry. The basic theme was that Indian industry is well poised to move forward in the Make in India initiative either by self-innovation or through joint ventures though transfer of technology route.
Session 3 : Emerging Technologies
The Session was chaired by Lt Gen (Dr) VK Saxena, former DG Army Air Defence.
Brig Shyam Mohan Murari, former DDG Army Air Defence, Army HQ, spoke on the ‘Emerging Threats from UAVs/ Drones’. After giving a detailed historical perspective, he covered the various tasks which drones/UAVs can perform replacing the manned aircraft. He also covered their use in civil applications where control is exercised by Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA), which allots unique ID to each UAV flight and also issues licence to the drone flyer who is required to abide by prevailing rules and regulations on the subject. Speaking of the threat, he talked of their detection by active and passive means and measures for their destruction /neutralisation. He also covered futuristic Swarm drone concept, autonomous drones and use of drones in a robotic wingman concept, where the drone would team up with the manned aircraft as number two in formation and would be controlled in the offensive mission by the manned mother aircraft.
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Wg Cdr M Balasubramaniam, Wg Cdr Operations (Offensive), Air HQ, spoke on the evolution of the airpower and guiding vision, global trends, present trends in air munition developments, insight into the present day weapons, promising technologies, trends in the delivery systems and warheads. In his talk about munitions, he delved into Swarm drone, new hypersonic engines, boat glide vehicles, hypersonic cruise missiles, which are manoeuvrable and, therefore, difficult to intercept. Revolution in military affairs was bound to take place with these new technologies being ushered in making flying machines unpredictive, more uncertain but, very accurate and lethal.
Cdr Inder Kumar Singh, Commander Staff Requirements, Directorate of SR, Naval HQ, covered the concept of defence of naval flotilla at sea. In the Navy, the concept of defence in depth is followed against the aerial threat of all kinds with long range weapons employed when the threat is at longer ranges, followed by using medium range weapons at medium range and in the final stage, short ranges weapons are employed to destroy the airborne threat. The short-range weapons have very high rates of fire and are accurate. Cdr Inder also talked about the emerging threats from drones, hypersonic missiles and glide vehicles. Apart from direct weapons, the passive measure such as decoys, radar absorbent fog, etc, were also effective in deflecting the threats. In future, the directed energy weapons, electromagnetic rail guns and laser and microwave weapons, which are under development and testing, hold great promise against emerging threats.
Session 4 : Integrated Air Defence Battle & Challenges
This session was chaired by Air Mshl Anil Chopra.
Gp Capt KB Mathew, Gp Capt Ops AD (C&R), Air HQ, spoke on ‘Overall Air Defence Framework and Air Space Management Challenges.’ He described the attributes of air defence, which requires a minute-to-minute accurate presentation of the air situation. This was achieved by the network centric systems of the air force. He clarified that the Union War Book clearly bestows the responsibility of air defence to the Indian Air Force, but he asserted that full effectiveness and efficiency can be achieved by integrating the Army and naval AD assets. In his presentation, he briefly covered the high points of the peacetime as well as wartime air defence operations and their challenges. The main challenge was that area of responsibility covers a vast area, for which requirement exists on 24/7 basis for all days and months. In the process, air defence is required to monitor and identify and react appropriately after sifting data on the borders and other areas, which during peacetime is teeming with large amount of civil traffic. During operations, while the main objective of air defence is to neutralise the air threats but own weapon systems also require maximum freedom and at the same time fratricide is to be avoided.
Brig Jagdeep Dahiya, former DDG Army AD, spoke on ‘How the Integrated Air Defence Command Structure can be Effective’. He fully subscribed with the idea of integration of air defence and formation of the Air Defence Command. He, however, believed that the leading service for joint organisation should be decided by the extent of the vulnerability faced and not by the bestowed responsibility. In that, he felt that army elements in the TBA faced maximum vulnerability. Talking of interoperability of the data sharing and communication links, he asserted these would be effective only when integrated and not when just interoperable. He propagated integrated fire control, use of mobility and simulation tools, joint training, giving equal importance to passive defence with active defence and finally sought separate budget for the futuristic aerospace defence theatre.
Session 5 : Atmanirbharta in Defence
The session was chaired by Maj Gen AK Channan, ADG PP & Head Army Design Bureau.
Lt Gen (Dr) VK Saxena, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, former DG Army AD spoke on ‘Army Air Defence – The Need for Self-reliance”. His talk was focussed on the sensors and air defence weapons. He gave a detailed account of our indigenous capability in manufacture of radars and AD weapons. Instead of importing new systems from aboard, he recommended joint manufacture with the foreign OEMs with transfer of technology. In support of his argument, he gave example of successful development of Barak LRSAM which was manufactured by DRDO jointly with Israeli defence manufacturer Rafael.
Dr Amit Kumar, Scientist F, Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), DRDO spoke on ’Self-Reliance and Capability Development in Critical Technologies’. He included indigenous exploits in connection of India’s ballistic missile defence and anti-satellite test, Shakti. Both ventures have successfully showcased our capability and, apart from proving our indigenous technical prowess to develop and manufacture hi-tech systems, have enhanced India’s prestige worldwide and given us the heft in strategic positioning in the world.
Mr Rupesh Kuchhal, General Manager (Business Development), Hanwha International India, gave details about several types of the armed vehicles such as infantry fighting vehicles, medium tanks, armoured personnel carriers, several types of air defence systems and launchers that the company manufactures. The company carries out considerable business with Indian defence forces and is willing to share in Make in India programme by sharing technology with the Indian manufactures.
Session 6 : Tracking, Control & Reporting, Common Operational Picture
Air Marshal Ramesh Rai, former AOC-in-C Training Command IAF chaired the session.
Lt Col (Res) Noam Shultz, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems spoke on Common Operational Picture Solution designed and manufactured by his company. The product is mobile and vehicle-based and assisted by artificial intelligence. It presents a composite and integrated air picture from various sensors to the operations staff, analyses and identifies the threats and gives optimum solutions to neutralise these after evaluating available various weapons.
Air Cmde Trilok Chand, Senior Fellow, CENJOWS spoke on “Identification Friend & Foe and Common Operational Picture”. He generally explained the various operational modes of IFF Mk 12, which is being used in air defence organisations in India. He also said NATO used an improved version IFF Mk 12A. He briefly discussed the automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B), which is a satellite-assisted system and is used on the civil side to track commercial flights. He said that once we have tactical data link with the American aircraft platforms, we would be able to get the composite picture from their platforms too. This possibility exists upon concluding the COMCASA agreement with United states.
Mr. Vasudevan R, Scientist F, LRDE spoke on the Latest Developments in AD Radars. He delved into the emerging threats such as stealth aircraft, unmanned vehicles and hypersonic vehicles, which have low RCS and are difficult to detect and, therefore, difficult to counter. He talked of several technologies like bi-static/ multi-static radars, passive radars, etc. which could detect such threats. Thereafter, he covered the radar manufacturing history of LRDE, which developed the first Indira radar in 1991 and have progressed tremendously from manufacturing the rotating radars to phased array radars.
Valedictory Address
Lt Gen Kuldip Singh, former DG Army Air Defence gave the valedictory address. He was appreciative of the move to form the Integrated Aerospace Defence Command, which would bring efficiency with cost effectiveness. He was in concurrence with the Government of India’s negative import list of the defence equipment, which positively will encourage the DPSUs and the private industry to manufacture locally. He emphasised that we need to focus both on hard and soft kill techniques and have ability to engage the threats at all ranges. This obviously can come with robust C&R systems, fully integrated with AD of other Services.
Closing Remarks
Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, Director CENJOWS thanked all the speakers, participants and sponsors on successful conclusion of the webinar. He emphasised that the formation of Aerospace Defence Theatre would eventually help further in the air and missile defence domains. The integration was not confined to the defence alone but it also involves integration with academia and industry as well, so that we have common focus and purpose to move ahead. Self-reliance cannot be a slogan; rather it should become the norm. He said we import nearly 60 per cent of the weapons from abroad, which must change if we are to truly become power in this region.
Speakers at Air & Missile Defence
Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff
Air Mshl HS Arora Vice Chief of Air Staff
Lt Gen Naresh Chand Former DG AAD
Air Mshl BR Krishna DG Air Ops
Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia Director CENJOWS
Lt Gen VK Saxena Former DG AAD
Air Mshl Anil Chopra Former AOP
Lt Gen Kuldip Singh Former DG AAD
Air Mshl Ramesh Rai Former AOC Training Comd
Maj Gen KV Jauhar ADG Army Design Bureau
Maj Gen AK Channan Former ADG PP
Brig Shyam Mohan Murari
Brig Jagdeep Dahiya
Gp Capt Vishal Malhotra Gp Capt Ops, Air HQ
Gp Capt KB Mathews Gp Capt Ops AD (C&R)
Wg Cdr M Balasubramaniam Wg Cdr Ops Offensive
Wg Cdr Y Subramanyam
Dr Amit Kumar Scientist F, ASL
Vasudev Ramakrishna Scientist F, LRDE
Brig MKK Iyer, Vice President, Bharat Forge
Lt Col (Res) Noam Shultz, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems
Mr Neer Barnhart, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems
Mr Rupesh Kuchhal, GM Hanwha International India
