SESSION 1: INAUGURAL SESSION

Opening Remarks. Lt Gen Sunil Srivastava, Director CENJOWS, emphasized on the importance of critical and advanced materials and its supply chain across the continents and how the recent conflicts in Europe and Middle East had affected the availability of special materials. He highlighted importance of advanced materials in weapon platforms to achieve the asymmetric advantage over our adversaries. Nano-materials, meta-materials, multifunction materials, and biomimetic materials are all smart materials which are being leveraged to have supremacy in the battlefield. Countries like United States, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, have got critical material strategies and policies. We are still yet to announce a critical materials strategy or policy.

Our country spent close to $2 billion worth of imports of advanced materials every year and majority of this comes from a potential adversary which is an issue of great concern. We have indigenized most of our systems but the special materials for these systems are being imported. We need to be conscious as to how we get self-reliant for semiconductors and critical material. The Mineral Policy of 2020, has already assured a lot of corrective policy measures. The Mines and Minerals Development and Regulations (MMDR) Act of 1957, has been amended twice recently as a result 30 critical minerals have been identified and opened up for auction to the private sector. Even Lithium has now been deregulated. For global partnerships, India is now engaged with the outside world through Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET) with the United States. India has also signed the Mineral Security Partnership in 2023, with the US and 12 other entities including EU. India has also inked a Critical Mineral Investment Partnership with Australia. It has signed MOUs to engage with Chile, Argentina, Australia on getting Lithium, Cobalt and other special metals and to translate this into action, all the stakeholders were expected to brainstorm the issues.

Keynote Address. Dr Samir V Kamat, Secretary Dept of Defence R&D & Chairman DRDO, emphasized that to have significant improvement in the performance of the defence systems, better materials with superior manufacturing technologies were required to be put in place. Unfortunately, we have not paid much attention to this important field. If we want to achieve our prime minister’s dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat and technology leadership in this Amrit Kaal, we have to pay greater attention to this stream of technology.

Broadly, materials can be divided into structural and functional materials, based on their roles. There are materials which perform the load bearing task for any weapon platform and there are materials which perform certain functional role of specific nature. Structural materials are materials such as steels, aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, polymer matrix composites, ceramic matrix composites. Functional materials are semiconductors, silicon, gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, permanent magnets and stealth materials.

We have been fairly strong in the structural materials. However, manufacturing of functional materials remains a grey area for us. We were left behind in the Silicon race in the 70s. For the new semiconductor materials developed for high power electronics such as silicon carbide, we have to ensure that we do not miss the opportunity. If we want to design hypersonic missiles, we need to first develop the scramjet propulsion and to develop scramjet propulsion, we need to develop materials which can withstand those high temperatures. To achieve that we need to look at niobium alloys, and nickel based super alloys with cooling channels.

Developing materials for defence and aerospace has several challenges. Some of these challenges are low volume and sporadic orders for the industries, stringent requirements for qualification and certification exponentially increasing the overall cost. However, the most significant challenge is the long development cycle for any material development. The design cycles for new weapon systems are shrinking. They are now down to about 4 to 5 years where as the new material development cycle is 10 to 15 years. So it is extremely challenging for a designer to starts designing a system to decide which material he should use. Lots of attempts internationally are now being made to see how this new material development cycle can be shrunk. Efforts are being made and over the next 10-15 years, we will be able to make some progress in lot of fields. The other initiative which is happening globally is known as the materials genome initiative which is a more hybrid approach.

It is the materials modelling approach including rapid experimentation approach and also using artificial intelligence and machine learning approach. Lot of material data has been collected over the years and using AI-ML tools. It is possible to get some insight into what should be a material or what should be the composition of a material or what processing should be used to achieve the desired outcome. As a nation we must have a more collaborative approach where academia, R&D institutions as well as industry work together to achieve this goal. The challenges start when we have to scale up from laboratory to industrial scale. The challenges are not only technical in nature but also techno commercial because unless the volumes are large, the cost becomes high. The issue of the infrastructure required for materials manufacturing is also very costly. 

Theme Address. Lt. Gen Manjinder Singh, DCIDS (PP&FD), HQ IDS highlighted the overwhelming reliance on China for critical hardware and special materials. The inclusion of fabrication and production of semiconductors through the new semiconductor policy was a welcome step. Dwelling upon the broad application of 3D printing, additive manufacturing from its initial beginning on a commercial scale, it has come a long way from medical equipment to space. The recalled Deng Xiaoping’s remarks about crude oil being synonyms with the Gulf and rare earth elements to China. ICT industry was seeking safer sources for conductors and semiconductors outside China. This is where India stands to gain. The West’s over-independence on China for rare earth elements has exposed the critical fault lines that are now being addressed globally. Tech giants like Apple, Boeing, Lockheed Martin are tightly coupled with China on the relevance of advanced materials, semiconductors and rare earth elements and trying to decouple the same. India must move into the semiconductor space with attractive investments opportunities to create a credible alternative to China’s manufacturing industries. Tata Group’s acquisition of the Bristol plant for manufacturing chips and iPhones in India demonstrates India’s intent to harness the opportunity of decoupling from China.

Modern war demands fighting and winning with indigenous solutions. Adoption through innovation of critical emerging technologies such as advanced materials, rare earth elements, composites and semiconductors are the way forward for our nation and to achieve this public, private sector industries, academia, and defence forces needs to collaborate frequently at all echelons. The government is putting policy and procurement measures in place, requisite hand-holding of industry, exploring this space is need of the hour for capability building and obviating foreign dependencies in this field.

Special Address. Maj Gen Charanjit Singh Mann, Additional DG Army Design Bureau highlighted the perspective of a user. He mentioned that the quality, type and composition of materials is insignificant for the user. What matters to the soldier is that it should be able to perform the desired task. He highlighted the kinds of advanced materials which are required for land forces applications. He mentioned about the importance of higher strength to weight ratio because it leads to overall weight reduction for the soldier’s equipment and weapons. He also emphasized upon high thermal stability, enhanced electrical conductivity, strength performance, higher sensing capabilities, and energy storage along with, durability factors of the equipment which impacts its overall configuration for fighting a battle. Speaking about each of these parameters he mentioned that land systems should be lightweight, flexible with higher performance to improve the agility for a soldier and afford manoeuvrability to the platform. All efforts should be made to reduce the overall load of a soldier. Even two kgs of helmet is also heavy for him during combat. Similarly, the bullet proof jackets or vests should also be as light and flexible and protective in nature. The materials used in unmanned aerial systems, directed energy weapons like Laser, Microwave systems should be able to withstand high temperatures. Special batteries, which are lightweight and compact are required. Conformal sensors and integrated circuits should be small and light with improved aerodynamic.

The communication systems have to be lightweight high performance antennas. EMI shielding should also have high signal integrity and low loss. Similarly, counter measures systems should also light weight high portability with ability to detect stealthy assets. For example, radar systems equipped with advanced signal processing algorithms and integrated with meta-material based antennas should be able to dissipate the effectiveness of strength materials by unique electromagnetic properties. The requirement of keeping the troops warm at high altitude regions should use materials which can withstand the wear and tear of weather and extreme fluctuation of temperature. With advanced materials we can achieve a much more efficient habitat system. He highlighted certain initiatives, projects which are under consideration, eg, protective spray on coatings and paints, especially for the unmanned aerial systems protecting them from high power laser weapons, the nano caffeine absorber coatings for different kinds of defence applications ceramic protection solution for armor protection, low cost sensor technology to detect different bio-warfare agents, smart thickening, fluid-based, ultra-resilient, adaptive kinematic soft rubber armour, sub-zero temperature Lithium-Ion batteries for supporting high altitude operations, energy harvester assisted power bank for mobile equipment, which shows a comprehensive integration of advanced materials across diverse domains within the defence forces.

Col Kuber highlighted that China had imposed export restrictions on gallium, gallium and germanium in response to American sanctions exposing the vulnerabilities of Western countries on dependence on China for critical raw materials. Turkey does not have certifications, which is time consuming and sometimes frustrating. They follow the supply and demand concept along with user requirements and they are one of the largest exporters of special materials. As far as China’s ambitious Belt Road initiative is concerned, they are proactively engaged with African Union countries and Australia to meet their burgeoning demand. China is diversifying its supply sources by investing in Africa and Australia. India has placed certain materials in the positive list of indigenization, which is highly significant for the industry. Raw materials which are available in India, should be banned for import. Government of India policy on critical minerals declared in June 2023 enables the private players to explore and mine these minerals. This is a defining moment for the industry.

SESSION 2 : ADVANCE MATERIALS FOR AEROSPACE

Session 2 was chaired by Air Vice Marshal Yalla Umesh, Asst Chief of Air Staff (Engineering), Air HQ.

Prof Ravi Shankar Kottada, Dept of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, IIT-Madras, spoke on Stealth Materials, Components and Technologies for Aero applications. He explained the latest technologies in preparation of special advanced materials. He highlighted that Addictive Manufacturing was the process of joining materials to make parts from 3D model data. Elaborating on these methods he explained the process of Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF), Direct Energy Deposition (DED), and Sheet Metal Lamination method. Chessboard Strategy results in better properties in alloys.

Srinath Ravichandran, CEO Agnikul Cosmos, covered the essential aspects of Agnibaan, which is an Agnikul’s mini space launch vehicle. The vehicle is dedicated and fully customizable for launching small satellites. It offers a 40 times faster launch turnaround which is a significant improvement in launch scheduling. The vehicle is linearly scalable from carrying 30 kg to 300 kg, indicating cost-effectiveness for various payload sizes which is 10 times cheaper. The Visitors att engines are named Agnite and Agnilet. Each Agnite engine can produce 25kN of thrust at sea level and can be configured with 4, 5, 6, or 7 engines. The Agnilet engine produces 8kN at vacuum. Its first flight was scheduled for Nov or Dec 2023.

Alok Singh Chauhan, Scientist F, DMRL, DRDO, spoke on Superalloy Casting Technologies For Aero Gas Turbine Engine Applications. He included:

• 3D printing as Manufacturing Technique in Aerospace.
• Application of Copper in Aerospace.
• Engine Components.
• Landing Gear Components.
• Electrical Wiring and Connectors.

Covering the canvas of Challenges in 3D printing of Copper & Smart alloys, he brought out issues pertaining to :

• High Thermal Conductivity.
• Oxidation Sensitivity.
• Printability.
• Thermal Stresses and Cracking.

The chairperson concluded by highlighting that all super alloys may not be meant for manufacturing. While super alloys are highly specialized materials known for their exceptional mechanical strength, resistance to thermal creep deformation, good surface stability, and resistance to corrosion or oxidation, they might not always be suitable for use in manufacturing processes.

SESSION: 3 – ADVANCED MATERIALS FOR LAND SYSTEMS, MISSILES AND NAVAL APPLICATIONS

The session was chaired by Rear Adm K Srinivas, Asst Chief of Materials (Dockyard and Refit), Naval HQ. He opened the session by highlighting importance of advance materials in manufacturing of battle ships for the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy uses specific material for ship building, eg, advanced steels for hulls for ships. Materials used for hulls is completely indigenous, highlighting Atamnirbhar Bharat success story. These materials are being developed by DRDO through integral research fraternity. Composite materials used in ship-building to reduce weight and increase stealth features are constantly being improved locally. To highlight self sufficiency of the country in the field and specialisation, it was mentioned that Vizag Dockyard uses 22 different types of steels for various manufacturing activities. Indian Navy’s requirements in future will be met completely through indigenous sources. Research & development by DRDO on fuel cells, coatings, thermal conductors, alloys, etc was also highlighted.

Cdr BK Singh from Directorate of Naval Design, Naval HQ, spoke on Special Materials for Ships and Submarines Building.” He gave information about structural materials used for ships/submarines and the types of materials used – high strength low alloy steels for hulls, Titanium and Cu-Ni alloys for pipes, Aluminum alloys for superstructures, composites materials for hull of small crafts, and cladded steel for interface structure. Covering the canvas of material failure he mentioned that it primarily occurred in the form of fracture/ fatigue/ creep. He emphasised upon the desired strength of materials required and explained factors of yield strength, resistance to brittle fracture, toughened materials and good ability to get welded. He mentioned that constant efforts were being made to develop high strength steel. He spoke about challenges faced in Titanium welding and future development of materials with improved qualities like steels with yield strength of 1000 MPa, metal fiber composites and biometric hull.

Lt Col Kunal Tagunde, Instructor Call A, College of Military Engineering, Pune spoke on Latest Developments in Impact Absorbing Body Armour. He gave the historical perspective, mismatch in requirements versus products in use by troops. He highlighted the aspects of flexibility, ergonomics, latest trends, new and innovative materials being developed, eg, Fiber, CT, Carbon Nano, etc. He briefly covered the Initiatives By CME, Pune on project Padam Kawach.

SESSION 4 : SMART & FUTURE MATERIALS/REAR EARTHS & SEMICONDUCTORS

The session was chaired by Rear Admiral (Prof) Deepak Bansal, IIT-Madras. He highlighted the need to devise a strategy to develop an ecosystem related to chips as well as special materials by bringing together all stakeholders including the Govt. He mentioned that Rare Earths are in abundance, however, these oxidised materials are rare because most deposits are of low in concentration and takes lot of efforts to process them.

Anuttam Mishra, Director (Technical), Indian Rare Earths Ltd spoke on Smart and Future Materials and Rare Earths. He recounted efforts of DAE in last 40 years. He said that rare earths were a group of 17 chemical elements which were used to produce useful high-tech products. Seven minerals are available in India which are processed by Rare Earths. Out of these thermal applications materials have been provided to Defence and BARC. Though the Rare Earths have offered finished material like phosphorous catalyst, etc, to the civil industry for exploitation, it has not found much success. There are few mining sites with limited mining capability, hazardous residue, long gestation period, highly capital intensive, due to economy of scale and low consumption. Most materials are highly radioactive and, hence, need high order of safety measures in their handling.

Dr Kingsuk Mukhopadhyay, Scientist G, DMSRD, DRDO spoke on Smart polymer, fibre & fabrics for stealth, extreme cold, fire resistant & ballistic protection. One of the major challenges for portable water filtration is rate of filtration due to insufficient gravitational pressure. A mitigation technology in compact area is developed by DMSRDE using porous nano fibres which don’t use any chemical or electrical power for purification.

DMSRDE has prepared unique SSG which shows the change in viscosity as a function of shear force and holds a great promise for damping and shock energy dissipation. Besides this DMSRDE has successfully developed modular Bullet Proof Jackets (BPJs) to provide 360-degree protection as per the laid down GSQR.

Functional Materials for Radar Absorbers are Dielectric materials which impart dielectric polarization losses whereas Magnetic materials Imparts magnetic losses Ferrites, carbonyl iron, iron silicide. He also informed the audience about the development of Camouflage Systems, Synthetic Camouflage Net for Snow Bound Area (SBA) & green belt area produced and supplied to army. Radar Absorbing Camouflage Net (RSCN) were found effective against Visual, IR and Radar Surveillance. Multi-Spectral Camouflage Net (MSCN) effective in Visual, NIR, TIR and MW bands, Multispectral Personnel Camouflage Equipment and Mobile Camouflage System (MCS) have been developed.

DMSRDE successfully developed Boot Anti Mine Infantry (BAMI) for Infantry troops Indian Army and CAPFs.

Other equipment developed by DMSRDE includes NBC Suit Permeable, NBC Gloves, Advanced Chemical Protective Gloves, CBRN Overboot, NBC Facelet Mask.

Dr Apurba Sinhamahapatra, from CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad extensively covered Shaped Memory Alloys as the smartest materials, known for their unique ability to recover their original shape after undergoing deformation making them useful for precise and reversible shape changes. The alloy called Nitinol named after Nickel-Titanium Naval Ordinance Laboratory, displayed the ability to return to a predetermined shape after being deformed when exposed to heat. It has found greater applications in the medical devices, including vascular stents, guide wires, and orthodontic devices. Currently, its applications have gone beyond medical to include aerospace, robotics.

He also gave details on types of Shaped Alloys – One Way alloy which remembers only one shape. The other remembers two different shapes, one at a lower temperature and other at a higher temperature. Iron and copper based SMAs such as Fe-Mn-Si and Cu-Zn-Al are commercially available and cheaper than NiTi. High strength and lightweight material like Nitinol is known for its high strength-to-weight ratio, making it suitable for various engineering applications.

KNS Pavan Kumar, Scientist B, YSL-Smart Materials, DRDO covered the topic of Applications of Smart Materials for Future Military Electronics Applications. He spoke about

• Actuators and Adaptive Structures
• Deployable Structures
• Aircraft Components
• Space Mechanisms
• Satellite Components
• Aircraft Engine Components
• Self-Repairing Textiles
• Enhanced Load-Bearing Equipment
• Adaptive Camouflage Cloaks
• Biomechanical Support Systems
• Adaptive Control
• Morphing Wings of Aircraft
• Deployable Structures
• Temperature -Responsive Uniforms
• Bulletproof Vests with Shape Memory Properties
• Application in Drones
• Energy Harvesting for Extended Flight Time

SESSION 5 – ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AND 3D PRINTING

The session was chaired by Dr Murugaiyan Amirthalingam, Associate Professor, IIT Madras. He gave a basic explanation of the concept of ‘Additive Manufacturing’ to the audience. He said that since Additive Manufacturing (AM) and 3D Printing Technology industry were still in nascent stage, it was the right opportunity to take the lead. He mentioned possibility of adapting additive manufacturing and 3D printing for engineering and biomedical applications, automobiles, etc, in addition to defence. He brought out the benefits of metal additive manufacturing in terms of material and energy saving and design freedom and its attributes of being a fully automated operation with limited skilled manpower requirement to realise from digital to physical form without any part-specific tooling requirements. However, he said that the existing “print-ready” alloys cannot cater to the diverse and growing needs of metal AM, especially in the defence sector, and that true benefits of metal AM can only be realized by developing more AM-friendly high-performance alloys.

V Srinivas, Scientist E, DMRL, DRDO spoke about Additive Manufacturing of Metallic Components for Defence Applications. He started by explaining the concept of Metal Additive Manufacturing. He brought out the advantages of metal additive manufacturing in defence sector specifically reduced product development lead time, reduced dependency on supply chain, manufacturing of critical components with complex geometric profiles, Optimized designs for weight reduction and reduced assembly of parts, manufacture of multi-material components and manufacture of parts with enhanced functional properties and performance.

He gave examples of additive manufacturing being done in the field of aviation and aerospace by GE, Airbus, P&W and NASA. In India, some components for the IAF have been manufactured using AM which have subsequently been certified by CEMILAC.

Today, DMRL is working on the design of new super alloys (alloys by design – ABD) using AM and on developing a test methodology for all the processes.

Capt (Dr) Nitin Agarwala, Senior Fellow, CENJOWS covered the aspects of 3D Printing for Ship Repairs. He began by explaining what AM is and then indicated how AM was slowly being introduced in the maritime sector. For ships, while the US and the US Coast Guard have installed printers onboard, they have used them to print small parts. He showed the cost advantage achieved and that the product manufactured was limited to a non-load bearing member as load bearing members required classification approval process which was still to be defined. He said that since AM had merit and was a sure way to encourage a circular economy, its acceptance would require more work but was a future technology for use on board ships.

Ram Kumar Krishnan, from Intech Additive Solutions covered the subject of Metal Additive Manufacturing through Ultrasonic Atomisation Technology. He indicated that powder quality, handling, purity and manufacture was a challenge for the industry for which Intech had developed solutions. He indicated that while there were a large number of metals, only 50 of them had been atomized to date and small MOQ (minimum order quantity) was a hold point for atomizing more metals. In this effort of manufacturing metallic AM powders, Intech has collaborated with a Polish firm Amazemet and was using ultrasonic atomization, which is considered the best process of manufacturing atomized metallic powder for AM.

S Murali Shankar, Managing Director, Super Auto Forge, covered the subject of Application of Additive Manufacturing in Industries. He provided an insight on manufacturing cold forged parts which is his company’s strength area for the last 50 years. Recently, they have moved to AM wherein they are manufacturing warm forging tools using AM. Such parts can be now manufactured in 78 hours as against 4-6 weeks required in conventional manufacturing process. The printed part has a greater life as internal cooling has been provided to the forged tool. He mentioned that the main challenge in AM is the cost of powder, reducing the build time of parts, increasing productivity and the need for post processing.

The last speaker Sachin Suramwar, from Gasptops briefed the audience on Metal Scan (on-line oil debris sensor providing real-time health monitoring of bearings and gears), Blade Monitor (on-line sensor mounted on engine fan case providing full-time/ real-time detection of blade distortion or cracking) and Chip Check (automated chip detector analyser deployable at the flight line/ maintenance bay) for monitoring equipment health.

Concluding Remarks. Lt Gen Sunil Srivastava, Director CENJOWS summarised the key takeaways of the seminar where he highlighted the need to finding indigenous solutions to the services’ specific requirements urgently in order to overcome the challenges faced in customising the hardware sourced from abroad in preparing the special matreials for defence usage. He said that we need to have a long term strategy in maintaining the assured supply of special materials during war and peace.

The post EVENT REVIEW – Advanced Materials for Defence & Aerospace 2023 appeared first on IMR.

The Centre For Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) and Indian Military Review organised the Night Vision & Electro-optics India 2023 seminar and exhibition in New Delhi on 5 Jan 2023.

The aim of the seminar was to bring together all the stakeholders in discussing and resolving issues pertaining to building night vision capability of the Armed Forces. ‘Divyadrishti’ as highlighted by Kautilya is equally applicable in today’s scenario for battlefield transparency in land, sea and air in all wars for triumphing the observation part of OODA loop. The Night Vision and Optronics devices provide the capability to the soldier for finding, fixing and finishing activities of the war fighters and enhance their observation, detection, identification and killing capabilities. Unprecedented proliferation of dual use technology facilitates innovative employment of night vision devices. With mobiles in use, now each and every citizen has turned into intelligence sensors. The focus areas of the warfare these days include large borders and huge weather challenges; therefore whoever controls the night will win the battle. The night vision devices are true force multipliers and need to focus on mass effect not the forces. With the changes in technology bringing in Artificial Intelligence for imagery processing and see through armour and focus on obscurance – aerosol and active decoys, the focus on night vision devices will increase manifold in times to come. The users, private industry and DPSUs must come together to create an environment, which overcomes the procedural bottlenecks and ensures self sufficiency in this field, which will also be aligned with the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.

Eminent speakers underscored the salience of situational awareness in the emerging Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) matrix and how Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives are critical in major defence areas having potential for defence exports by India. There are 46 ongoing projects worth over Rs 47,000 crore, where the industry is engaged with the Indian Army. The Army Design Bureau has been energized as the lead agency together with the various directorates to take the initiatives ahead. The requirements for the night capability have been shared with the industry. Night fighting assumes added importance since surprise and deception are better achieved during the hours of darkness. CI/CT commitments demand constant vigil along the LC, LAC and in the hinterland.

Sizeable investment in this cutting edge technology area is essential and to address infiltration and enable military operations. Investments in border surveillance equipment, BFSR and weapon mounted sights is paramount. The need for II sights for short ranges and TI sights for longer ranges is inescapable. Night sights are being provisioned for frontline troops as per a phased roadmap. There is a need to indigenise EO sights with a realistic cost factor, incorporating latest technologies through a public private partnership. Industry must assist in evolution of service QRs based on emerging technologies, provisioning of simulators for modern training infrastructure, research and development efforts, explore fusion of II and TI technology, innovation of light weight equipment and compact power sources. There is a need to exploit the IDEX and TDF schemes, with accelerated timelines, with enhanced synergy between industry and users.

DRDO labs have provided several solutions for Electro Optics and there are many products under induction, to include weaponisation of HHTI, Project Dharashakti and Driver’s Night Sight. Recent advancements in II technology and digitised battlefield call for advanced EO System requirements (ie, range, field of view and recognition capabilities). There is a need to overcome challenges to empower our Armed Forces, so as to reduce weight and size of night vision devices for effective data and image fusion. The trends point towards Combat Goggles and future weapon systems, C4I2SR and exoskeletons. EO Systems under development include Optical Shields, Handheld Ground Penetrating Radar (HHGPR), Vehicle Mounted Ground Penetrating Radar (VMGPR) and Through Wall Imaging Radar (TWIR).

Major Issues Discussed in the Seminar

The seminar provided a platform for sharing visions, capabilities, challenges and solutions as follows:-

•  The DRDO and industry highlighted their capabilities and the ability to produce innovative solutions, especially the following to meet the requirements of the forces:-  

(I) Latest night vision technologies and challenges.

(ii) Infra Red (IR) detection for defence applications.

(iii) Products and solutions in Electro Optics.

(iv) Artificial Intelligence (AI) in surveillance.

(v) Contribution towards self reliance in thin films and night vision optics.

• The services highlighted their NVD and EO requirements, especially for Infantry, Artillery, AFVs and Army Aviation. The process of trials of NVDs by Directorate General of Capability Development, IHQ of MoD (Army) was also explained in detail for the benefit of the industry representatives.

• Challenges in border management at night were highlighted by the BSF representative.

Armed Forces Requirements

Infantry Requirements. The Infantry requires II+TI sights and devices for assault rifles and LMGs, TI sights for MMG, AGS, Snipers and 84 mm RL. A mix of PNVG, PNVB, HHTI and HHTI (UC) form part of these requirements. In times to come, the user seeks indigenisation of critical technologies (to include TI Sensors, Micro Channel Plates (MCP) and Fire Control System (FCS)) to improve technical thresholds (Figure of Merit (FoM), Graphene, AI), development of fusion technology (TI and II) and in house R&D by the production agencies.

Army Aviation Requirements. The Army Aviation projected the requirement of light weight, long lasting, all weather panoramic NVGs, with colour symbology, superimposing mission symbols on outer scenery with common Heads up Display (HUD) accessories for day and night flying and NVG simulators and dark rooms.

Mechanised Forces Requirements. The following requirements for AFVs were highlighted:-

(I)   Combined day/night EO sights for NSVT 12.7 mm Gun operated remotely.

(ii) Head Mounted Displays – Real Time Zero Latency Video Feed – See Through Armour, Common Operational Picture for crew, Holistic Battlefield Management System (BMS) – integration with Identification of Friend and Foe (IFF)/Situational Awareness (SA), so as to attain 360 degree close hatch fighting capability in diverse operational situation and varied terrain.

(iii) Local situational awareness – automated processing with fusion technology.

(iv) Recce Troop – night enablement for 7.62 mm armament.

(v) Integration of EO Feed from three dimensional assets (smart sensors) for Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) capability.

(vi) Technology induction – enhanced operational effective AFVs – Manned – Unmanned Teaming (MUMTs)/integrated surveillance and target systems.

(vii) Survivability – adaptive camouflage, Multi Spectral Camouflage Nets (MSCN).

Artillery Requirements. The Artillery and SATA requirements projected were as follows:-

(I)   Ultra long range Electro-Optic Devices.

(ii)  Higher resolution (Ultra High Definition (UHD), High Definition (HD)) for better identification capability.

(iii) Integration of multiple sensors (IR, Short Wave Infra Red (SWIR)/Medium Wave Infra Red (MWIR), LRF) for all weather surveillance.

(iv) Surveillance and targeting capability at higher ranges.

(v) AI enabled change detection, alarm system and auto generation of target profile.

(vi) All weather, more robust, light weight with better ergonomics.

(vii) More options of communication-wireless, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and video.

(viii) Remote control at larger distances to save manpower.

(ix) Integration with battle surveillance system for online analysis.

Air Force Requirements. The Air Force needs night vision devices to meet its multiple operational roles. Laser Range Finders (LRF) are required for target range determination and target sighting. The following night vision device requirements were highlighted:-

(i) Be platform specific, with optimised weight suitable for platforms, meeting desired power and cooling requirements.

(ii) Have multi spectral capability.

(iii) Have light weight, compatibility, commonality, good visual acuity, all weather operations capability, mission recording and playback system for digital video recording and mission debrief tool.

(iv) Indigenisation is desired, so as to have reduced Turn Around Time (TAT) for repairs and reduced OEM dependency.

Indian Navy Requirements. The Navy projected the following night vision devices requirements for its maritime environment, ship borne, airborne and special naval operations:-

(i) Sensors and weapons to operate in marine environment under all weather conditions.

(ii) Special propagation conditions in terms of scattering, absorption and contrast.

(iii) All round 24×7 surveillance, detection and tracking.

(iv) Stabilisation – Roll/Pitch/Yaw.

(v) Military standards to withstand harsh marine environment.

(vi) Interface with ships systems (combat management system) for generating targeting solution for weapons.

(vii) Detection of all kinds of targets (to include surface ships, small crafts/submarine periscope, aircraft (Fighter/Maritime Reconnaissance (MR)/Helo/ (viii) Multi-spectral devices for assured performance under all conditions of propagation and target characteristics.

(ix) Integrated LRF to assess the range of target.

(x) Helmet mounted NVDs with four tube and four eyepiece configuration for better field of view. Additional features of ‘Auto Gating’ and ‘White Phosphorus Display’ were explained.

(xi) NV Monocular – NV capability for single eye with ocular for the other (Gen III and above).

Border Security Force. The border and battlefield night vision requirements projected include Thermal Weapon Sights, PNVDs, Weapon Alternative Processors (WAPs), IR Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) Cameras, Good Night Vision Pay Loads with Drones, Optical Target Locating System for detection of snipers, fog penetration radar devices and foliage penetration radar devices.

Industry Capabilities

The industry has the capability to meet most of the border and battlefield requirements.

The industry showcased its capability to make most of the products required by the services in the short term. Tata Advances Systems Limited (TASL) presented their products and solutions in EO Domain to include Remote Control Weapon System for 7.62 mm LMG, Stabilised EO solutions and uncooled TI based handheld systems.

Work is in the pipeline to meet the evolving and future needs of IAF.                       

For the Indian Navy, numerous key technologies to deliver the required specifications have already been harnessed. The industry was hopeful of meeting the evolving and the future Naval requirements and development of systems accordingly.

Sourcing of few components such as, Integrated Circuit (IC) tubes, are still ex import and involve large lead time. Atmanirbhar route could drive technological transformation for which Industry is ready to be the key enabler.

TASL presented their products and solutions on Sighting System for AFVs, Remote Control System for 12.7 mm guns and Stabilised EO System.

IRDE showcased Driver Night Sight for T-90 tank for fused technology based on uncooled TI technology and its Laser Fence.

TASL presented their products and solutions on Multi Long Range Surveillance Platforms – RAJAK ULR-25, Advanced System of LORROS, lightest in its class, detection of vehicles in excess of 32 km with high definition sensor version of it and Direct Fire Sight for Artillery Guns.

R&D Imperatives

In order to meet the medium and long term requirements of the services, especially through the Atmanirbhar route, adequate R&D needs to be undertaken, so as to meet these needs indigenously.

R&D in futuristic technologies needs to be funded and the pace needs to be accelerated.

The development of NVG simulators is inescapable and needs to be progressed expeditiously.

Joint ventures for the current technology and future upgrades are essential. IRDE may transfer the existing capabilities on ToT to private industry and focus on futuristic technologies. OEM mandated production and repair procedure need to be replicated. Strong R&D base and indigenous technology are essential. Training on simulators and live/ sectionised equipment is essential to improve skill sets.

There is a need to combine means for enhancing surveillance and get the latest technology either developed in house or by ToT from other countries. 

Integrated capability development plan is essential, wherein, all common equipment for border and battlefield surveillance (including for military and CAPF) needs to be procured by one service, duly considering commonality and standardization, which will lead to cost cutting.

Key Takeaways

Salient takeaways which emerged during the course of the seminar are as follows:-

•  The Indian Industry, DRDO and PSUs have the desired capability to meet most of the current requirements of the services, which needs to be exploited, especially the IRDE capabilities for Electro Optics solutions. Few gaps in capabilities need to be addressed in a synergised manner with participation of DRDO and Private Industry together, especially in areas of multi spectral fusion, miniaturization, autonomous functioning, long battery life and integration with command and control elements using AI.

•  The Atmanirbhar push demands handholding of the Private Industry, which must be encouraged by providing access to in-service equipment/assets and futuristic requirements need to be shared to find innovative solutions.

•  The users essentially desire equipment, which are affordable, adaptable, have ability to be absorbed into existing systems, with modularity, replaceability and repairability. Although Army Design Bureau and various directorates have spelt out the Army’s night vision equipment requirements, these need to be reviewed periodically on emergence of new technologies. The Air Force and Navy too need to regularly share their night vision equipment requirements. The user must formulate realistic GSQRs, based on leading edge technologies to allow faster growth and assist the forces in acquiring the latest equipment with spiral development approach. There is a need for infusion of investment and technology at all levels and greater synergy between all the stake holders. Such synergy and interaction will help demonstrate equipment on offer, share DRDO/OFB/Private Labs for testing and refinement and sharing IP rights to accelerate R&D.

• Sources of some of the critical equipment and spares (such as TI Sensors, Micro Channel Plates and Fire Control System as still ex-import and involve a large lead time. Therefore, indigenization of such critical technology is essential. Following recommendations were made to promote indigenization of such technology:-

(i) Realisation of the timelines in Positive Indigenization Lists (PIL).

(ii) Import of defence equipment to be done only as an exception.

(iii) Encouragement to Indian MSMEs by providing regular incentives.

(iv) Making the military infrastructure available to the industry for testing.

• The future needs demand improvement of technical threshold (FoM, Grephene, AI), fusion of II and TI technology, vision devices, surveillance devices, miniaturization (smaller and lighter devices), loiter munitions equipped with night vision capabilities, to out range the adversary (in detection, identification and recognition fields), cryogenic cooling technology, rearward streaming of every input and its utilization in real time and integration of Geo-referencing/Geo-fencing in night vision devices. The futuristic night vision technology will comprise of enhanced and dual sensor night vision devices for which continuous research and in house R&D by the production agencies are key. The evolving night vision technology for platforms needs to be based on affordability, ability to get absorbed into the existing and futuristic systems, durability, wireless technology, image compression, image fusion to facilitate provisioning of realistic images to the users. Sizeable investment in cutting edge technology and dual use technology development is essential through effective public private partnership and may help in optimum evolution and utilization of latest technology. The Private Industry needs to be encouraged, strengthened and supported with enhanced and assured funding to meet these requirements. IDEX and TDF schemes and other innovations and initiatives need to be exploited to reap dividends.

• There is a need to have the optimum capability of de-camouflaging military objects by use of appropriate devices to achieve penetration through the camouflage. Use of technologies to overcome limitations of camouflage and weather, especially fog and foliage was highlighted by all the users and industry was asked to come up with innovative solutions.

• Night Vision Simulators and modern training infrastructure are needed by all the three services.

• Issues related to in house image processing algorithms, sharing of source code by indigenous vendors, indigenous content verification at the level of Army Design Bureau need to be resolved by the services.

• All stake holders need to meet the timelines stipulated in the procurement process. Existing payment processes are usually slow and need to be improved.

The Ministry of Defence should drive the night vision capabilities, associated GIS and network requirements through a tri-service/joint overarching philosophy and hand hold the industry.

The post Event Review—Night Vision & Electro Optics India 2023 appeared first on IMR.

Air & Missile Defence India Seminar & Exhibition 2022 was organised by Indian Military Review and CENJOWS on 15 July 2022. The objective was to provide a forum for interaction between the armed forced and industry to deliberate, appraise and redress contemporary issues pertaining to air and missile defence. Various domain experts expressed their views on threats and countermeasures and need for certain technologies. Senior representatives from industry elaborated upon the growth of self-reliance and ongoing and future development of required technologies.

Seminar Sessions

Five seminar sessions included topics like Emerging Threats and Countermeasures; Emerging Technologies; Upgrades, Optimisation and Self-Reliance; and Joint Planning and Conduct of Air Defence Operations.

Session I: Inaugural Session

The Welcome Address was given by Lt Gen Sunil Srivastava, Director, CENJOWS. He highlighted the significance of the event being held physically after two years of online conduct of events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He extensively covered various conflicts and lessons to be drawn from them while underlining the significance of the air domain. He mentioned the need to leverage manned and unmanned platforms indigenously and analyse the threat landscape carefully. Comparative capabilities, he discussed components of People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and cautioned against growing Sino-Pak collusion. To cater to growing needs, he proposed the use of novel sensing solutions, counter stealth capabilities, high power data domain, sense of fusion, algorithms and AI; machine learning, counter-UAS, counter swarm capabilities, threat evaluation and assignment algorithms.

The Inaugural Address was given by Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, Chief of Air Staff. He covered an array of topics. He emphasised that,” Air defence is an essential and continuous mission in peace time.”  He underlined the changes in the concept of air defence through lessons learnt from 9/11, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. He noted that proliferation and easy availability of platforms have made us highly vulnerable, due to utilisation by anti-national elements. Thus, he called for a threat scenario analysis. He stressed the challenges faced by us in speed spectrum besides the challenge for interception posed due to enormous speed difference in hypersonic weapons. He noted the increasing demand of joint operations, budgetary constraints and the need to make crucial technical choices. He emphasised the need to strengthen air defence through integration into a bigger network and that intermarrying of air defence system, passive and an offensive counter head was critical. He defined amalgamation of territorial and space domains as fundamental to future war fighting.

The Theme Address was delivered by Lt Gen SP Goswami, Director General Army Air Defence. In his address, he dwelled on the increasing criticality of the subject and accentuated the importance of army air defence as pioneers since 1940 with an emphasis on its operations in joint study groups. He emphasised on the need to evolve air defence strategy and sought answers on questions pertaining to stealth technology, carbon composite materials, variations of physical sizes. While addressing our needs, he focussed on the requirement of ECCM technology, modules to operate in a wider bandwidth with 2-3 bandwidths simultaneously. He said that incorporation of electronic IIF and improvement of scan technology will have to be incorporated.  He mentioned 3D and 4D radars as the mainstay of technology to counter threats. He highlighted quantum radar as a new area of research to ultimately replace current radar technology. He recommended the use of lighter missiles with better propellants backed by unjammed fuses and laser beam missiles as the answer to engagement of low RCS drones. He said that radar control guns will provide terminal defence against release from stand-off platforms. Lastly, he stressed on the imperative need for integration of various surveillance outcomes.

Navdeep Singh of Dassault Systemes gave an Introductory Talk on “Boosting Innovation and Operations Through Collaboration on a Digital Platform”. He noted the emerging threats in the landscape with emphasis on two challenges – how to integrate new technology and optimise legacy systems? He then presented the solutions available at Dassault Systemes highlighting their inter applicability across platforms through a data driven approach. He mentioned the use of such platforms by the Indian Navy.

Eli Hefetz of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems gave an Introductory Talk on their efforts towards manufacturing globally and drew a parallel towards their efforts in India to cater to Atmanirbharta including engagement with partners in industry, highlighting Rafael as a team player.

The Industry Perspective was provided by Col KV Kuber, Director Defence and Aerospace, Ernst and Young. He expressed his views on the Atmanirbharta initiative and the need for indigenised weapons. He listed future prospects and reported the key industrial developments in the domain. He further provided a roadmap for the development and upgradation of indigenised weapons, underlining their role in providing enhanced security and protection.

The session concluded with release of the IMR– EY Knowledge Paper on Air Defence 2022. 

Session II: Emerging Threats and Countermeasures

The theme of Session II was “Emerging Threats and Countermeasures.”It was chaired by Air Vice Marshal Makarand Ranade, ACAS Ops (Space), Air HQ. In his introductory remarks he stated obsolescence of our system and cyber threat as key challenges and suggested various countermeasures.

Gp Capt Prashant Arora, Air HQ spoke on “Russia-Ukraine War – Lessons from the AD Battles.” He extensively covered and compared the evolution of Russian air defence philosophy and the Ukrainian air defence philosophy, their Air Defence architecture and air operations. Broadly he covered – symbiotic relationship of air defence and offensive operations, co-ordination in employment of air defence systems, active and passive air defence against SSM threat, lethality of MANPADS, low observable technology, networked operations, geography and air defence. Key points include:

• Offensive air operations must complement AD operations: degrade the adversary airpower at source.
• Common AD communication network was essential
• Russians made extensive use of Active and Passive AD against SSM threat in the conflict
• Active and Passive AD measures against SSM threat have become mandatory in modern conflicts
• Missile defence systems, Terminal Weapon Systems, CIWS, Non-kinetic options, HAS, U/G complexes, dispersion of assets and agility are some of the solutions
• Mitigation of MANPAD threat is essential through countermeasures and sound tactics
• The procurement and employment of cost-effective and viable AD systems must to be continued owing to relevance in modern conflicts
• Importance of Low Observable technology for operations in dense AD environment
• Networked operations should be complemented by training and inter-operability

Brig Manish Kumar, Brig AD (Ops & C2) Army Air Defence Directorate, Army HQ, spoke on “Emerging Threats in the Indian Sub-continent”. He dwelled on classification of air threat, various platforms, air threat manifestation, nuances, emerging technologies, mitigation strategies, mitigation challenges, preferred mitigation philosophy and electronic warfare. Key points were:

• Emerging technologies in next gen aircraft include stealth design, carbon composites and low RCS
• Mitigation strategies in RPA are classified into:
  • Ultra-Low/Low Bracket – high rate of fire guns, fragmentation ammunition, AD sights, decentralised control
  • Med Bracket – Surveillance by active sensors, tracking and mitigation: Radar controlled gun systems and VSHORADS, centralised control
  • Deep Bracket – Surveillance by active sensors, tracking and mitigation: Radar controlled missile systems
• Army’s concern in Tactical Battle Area (TBA) – Air threat manifestation
• Low level threat critical for the Army in TBA
• Noted a progressive shift from manned to unmanned and platforms to weapons.
• Preferred mitigation philosophy for hypersonic weapons/cruise missile to be “Target the weapons systems ‘Left of Launch’.” 

Col Manish Sareen, Senior Director Land Systems, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems spoke on “Flexible AD resource deployment.”  He advanced the operational requirements – manoeuvrability, fast and flexible deployment, force protection, use of passive detection capabilities and reliability. He then introduced SPYDER All-in-One: A Complete AD Solution developed by Rafael. He enumerated its characteristics – response to saturated attacks, mature operational system, effective solution, high mobility, TMS, open architecture and all-weather operation. He explained its configuration and components – exMHR Radar and Toplite EO Sensors. He further presented details about three missiles and the range and systems. Lastly, he summarised all benefits of SPYDER.

Ran Marom, Vice President, Rada Electronic Industries spoke on “Tactical Air Surveillance and Emerging Threats.” He explained the tactical threats to airspace permeability in tactical forces, critical infrastructure and maritime. He further explained the common gaps through the purview of local air picture and local defence and analysed the use of MANPADS as potential effective countermeasures. He then proposed the use of RADA radars as current operational solutions. He presented the characteristics of USMC LMADIS, USMC MADIS, and US Army MSHORAD. He further explained NEM-TASK-Network-Enabled, Mobile, Modular Tactical Air Situation Kit and various software and hardware modules available under it. Under requirements for critical asset protection and gap filling, he listed:

• Low SWaP
• Very high reliability
• Effective range
• Unattended 24/7 operation
• Control Local AD assets
• Multi-mission – very high Pd and reliable tracking against widely varying threats
• Mobile
• SW-defined – easy integration and adaptation, future-proof SW upgrade
• Low cost of ownership

Session III: Emerging Technologies

Session III was chaired by Air Vice Marshal PV Shivanand, ACAS (Air Defence), Air HQ.

Air Marshal Daljit Singh from Rafael Advanced Defence Systems spoke on “Challenges of Optimizing the AD Array.” He covered the operational challenges of AD deployment – vulnerability of RF sensors, challenging terrain, multiple origin AD assets, redeployment in a dynamic environment, multiple threats and experience and expertise. He provided the following solutions:

• User friendly, upgradable and adaptive software tool to plan deployment/ redeployment of AD assets for adequate and optimum AD protection of VA/VPs against multiple types of threats
• Quick results
• Provide effective debrief and training tools for evaluation
• Tool to be available at all relevant C2 centers and standalone tool for forward formations.
• The tool is to be operationally mature and available Now.

He also spoke about the purpose, workflow and other capabilities of the Rafael AD Optimizer. These were:

• Training tool
• Exercise Debriefs
• Tool for offensive strikes
• Tool for Future Inductions
• He labelled the following as future blocks roadmap:
• Time line – waves of attack, fire capacity
• Advanced ECCM
• Manoeuvring Forces
• Connectivity to live systems

R. Suman, Senior Manager, Hind High Vacuum Company presented an overview of the company profile and history. He gave details about:

• Optics fabrication, materials
• Coating technology, capabilities, manufacturing
• ZnS, Domes, Periscope prisms, Night vision optics,
• Thin Film Characterization
• Lithography

Session IV: Upgrades, Optimisation and Self-Reliance

The theme of Session IV was Upgrades, Optimisation and Self-Reliance. It was chaired by Cmde Alok Ananda, Cmde Naval Ops, Naval HQ.

Air Cmde Vikram Gaur, Air Cmde Air Staff Requirements, Air HQ spoke on “Air Force upgrades and optimisation.” He highlighted how the Low Speed and Very Low RCS instruments have evolved as the emerging threats in the AD domain. He suggested procuring high-powered indigenous radars along with AWE&C capabilities and N-LOS systems as a counter to these emerging threats. Further, he reflected on how we can upgrade our present fleet of Mirage 2000, SU30 MKI, Jaguars, helicopters, etc, with BrahMos, Astra MK-I, Derby, Dhanush ATGMs, Spike N-LOS systems, EW suites (developed indigenously by DRDO and BEL) against the enemy.

Lt Col GNVS Vijay, GSO-1 AD (Procurement), Army Air Defence Directorate, Army HQ spoke on “Ground-based Air Defence Weapons’ Upgrades and Optimisation”. He brought out how ‘AD Battle is not sequential.’ He emphasised the following in the present scenario:

• Procurement cycles are considerably slower.
• Change is a constant phenomenon.
• Battles are getting more dynamic.
• Upgrades are getting delayed.

He highlighted how we face a dual challenge from the dated technology and the legacy platforms and our only way forward was to make the upgrades in the field of:

• Detection
• Interception
• C3 (Command, Control, Communications)

Capt SS Sinsunwal, Capt SR (ND & CMS), Naval HQ spoke on “Recent developments in Indian Navy’s AD capabilities.” He reflected on the fact how maritime air defence was quite similar yet distant from the conventional air defence. Further, he highlighted how leveraging ICT tools and awareness in this domain was the key enabler of the Net Centric Operations in the maritime domain.

Raghunandan Jagdish, Managing Director, Nandan GSE spoke on the “Customised Solutions for Missile Handling.” He presented an overview of the company profile and history. Further, he reflected on how ‘people’ serve as the weakest link in missile and bombs handling procedures and highlighted the need to revolutionise the missile defence and safe handing in India with the help of specialised lifting and handling solutions with applications in the aerospace, aviation, defence, material handling, car parking, and similar sectors.

Sunil Dhingra, Technical Executive, Industry Consultants Group, Dassault Systemes spoke on “Data Driven Program Governance & MRO on Digital Platform.” He stressed on the need of Optimised Design as the platform allows us to digitally innovate the product and allow us to digitally recreate the old technology and find prospects of optimising it.

Session V: Joint Planning and Conduct of Air Defence Operations

The theme of this session was “Joint Planning and Conduct of Air Defence Operations.” The session was chaired by Brig Manish Kumar, Brig AD (Ops & C2), Army Air Defence Directorate.

Air Cmde Manu Midlha, Air Cmde Ops (Offensive), Air HQ covered “Integration & Interoperability – Air Force Perspective.” He broadly covered the Principles of War, Characteristics of the Operating Medium and Tasks. He defined air defence as ‘a misnomer’ and labelled its military strategy based solely on defensive operations as reactive besides conceding time, scope and tempo to enemy. He talked about the under exploitation of air power capabilities. He highlighted the significance of offensive air power capabilities and characteristics of air power. He was of the view that Indian Air Force’s Air HQ has the highest authority with ultimate responsibility for the air defence of the country. He quoted Mitchell to substantiate his belief that the first battles of any future war would be air battles.

Under key approaches to ensure air defence, he covered:

• Surveillance and Early Warning – integration of sensors, integration of communications,
• integration of weapon systems
• Fire power upon enemy – airborne, ship/ land-based radars, MOP, civilian radars, naval air defence radars, army radars in TBA
• Centralised Command and Control – defence through offence, minimise risks, airspace control, efficient and flexible use of airspace by all elements
• Under the Indian Air Force Perspective, he presented the following points:
• Cohesive and synergized approach to AD is elementary to optimum response
• Offensive and defensive elements under one commander
• Resources irrespective of colour of uniform under functional control of one air commander

His recommendations included:

• Interoperability at architectural level key to ensure seamless integration
• Emphasis on integrated and secure communication network imperative for network centric warfare
• Naval and land forces can significantly enhance the defensive depth only if they are fully integrated within the AD system
• Failure to integrate can be disastrous in terms of fratricide
• Authority to approve, disapprove or dent combat operations vested in only one operational Air commander

Col Sameer Babu, Col AD, AAD Directorate covered “Integration & Interoperability – Army Perspective”. The main topics included were – current air threats, jointness in planning of air defence operations, jointness in conduct of air defence operations and areas of integration. He introduced the concept of embedded air defence and mentioned the role of Army Air Defence in conjunction with Air Force in all conflicts post-Independence. He presented a brief overview of the functions of Army Air Defence in joint operations at strategic, operational and tactical levels. He enumerated the following functions pertaining to jointness in conduct of air defence operations:

• Integration of Surveillance.
• Integration of surveillance inputs is supreme and time critical
• Geographical Basis of Control.
• All ground-based AD weapon systems in the geographical area of responsibility operate under the operational control of one joint entity at the tactical level
• Exclusive Engagement Zones.
• The induction of Long Range Surface to Air Missiles (LRSAMs)
• Mutually exclusive areas may have to be earmarked
• Maximum freedom of action to GBADWS
• Afford maximum safety to the interceptor aircraft
• Coordinated interplay between Surface to Air Missiles and interceptor aircraft
• Air Defence Battle Management.
• AD Control and Reporting System is the Army Air Defence Battle Management System.
• Highly reliable, responsive and flexible
• Backbone of robust communication network
• Distributed Architecture
• Upwards integrated architecture – integrated surveillance, control and reporting, weapon engagement
• Dynamic nature of weapons
• Temperamental communications
• Empowered and Decentralized Control and Reporting
• Real time situational awareness
• Afford battlefield transparency
• Infusion of technology
• Decentralized architecture
• Low flying low Radar Cross Section (RCS) targets in terms of RPAs, SWARMS and munitions will afford minimum reaction time.

Under recommendations in areas of integration, following were mentioned:

• Development of air and electronic intelligence
• AD policy formulation
• AD resource planning
• AD Control and Reporting and Airspace Control including integrated/ joint manning of control nodes
• Establishment and management of interoperable networks
• Integrated training
• Integrated logistics sustenance
• Integrated AD procurement and budget management
• Common manning/ staffing norms
• Situational awareness through Integrated
• Communication Networks
• Battle Field Transparency will provide
• Sensor-shooter linkage
• Robust and secure digital integrated communication network amongst the three services

Capt Vishnu V Reddy, Capt (Naval Plans) – Financial Planning, Naval HQ covered “Integration & Interoperability – Navy Perspective.” The major topics were India’s maritime security environment, air defence threats, air defence in maritime domain, avenues of overlap, offshore installations, ground-based air defence, command and control, communication systems and data links and integrated capability development. He emphasised that Indian Navy has to be self-sufficient towards AD and AMD at high seas. And stressed on the criticality of information sharing between IN and IAF for quick and precise AD action.

Under maritime security environment – he noted maritime terrorism, unresolved land/maritime disputes, Sino-Pak collusion, Chinese military/economic growth and nuclear armed neighbours to be some of many key factors influencing maritime security.

He further characterised the air defence threats into the following:

• Platform – conventional surface forces, sub-surface platforms, air platforms, land-based strike platforms.
• Kinetic Weapons – cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, precision guided munitions.
• Non-Kinetic/ SEAD – EMP weapons, swarm drones, offensive EW, laser weapons.

Under the avenues of overlap, following points were mentioned:

• Offshore installations/ VAs and Vps
• Coastal areas
• Anti-ship strike and MR busting within ROA of IAD AD aircraft
• AD Cover for land forces, when required

The ways, means and ends to be met in AD in maritime domain were mentioned. Those are:

Ends.

• AD of Naval Assets at Sea – IN responsibility
• Battle groups/ single units to defend themselves
• Provide AD cover to escorted Convoys/HVUs

Ways.

• Naval operations/ tactics formulated to protect forces against incoming air strikes/ missiles
• Continuous Surveillance and Engagement Zones (Fleet/ Ship Air Defence Zones)
• Expanse of zones defined by Sensor and Weapon capabilities
• Catered for layered protection

Means,

• Integrated sensors
• Area Defence Missile Systems (LRSAM/ MRSAM)
• Point Defence Systems (SRSAM/ PDMS/ Guns)
• Decoys/ Chaff
• Organic Air Early Warning Assets
• Carrier borne fighter aircraft – CAP Role
• Organic air launched weapons

Following points were enumerated under integrated capability development:

• Joint capability development’s significance as the foundation for integration and interoperability
• LTIPP – Merger of capability requirements post finalisation of Service Capability Development Plans
• ICADS – Joint activity from initial stages
• ICDP – Inter service prioritisation and impetus on commonality

The speaker concluded with the following recommendations:

• Forces to be responsive, flexible and integrated
• Identification of specific and common tasks/missions enabled through network centric operations
• Key to affective and efficient AD
• Clear command relationships
• Shared responsibilities
• Common operating picture
• Communication networks
• Component of joint forces

The Vote of Thanks and Concluding Remarks was presented by Maj Gen Ravi Arora, Chief Editor, Indian Military Review.

The post EVENT REVIEW—Air & Missile Defence India 2022 appeared first on IMR.

He said a healthy mix of local endeavours and foreign collaboration was the bedrock of India’s journey on the road to self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector.

“Scientific and technological as well as the economic development of a nation is reflected in the capacity of its weapons and ammunition. For India to become a world power and one of the leading countries in defence production, we must move forward in the indigenous design, development and production of ammunition,” he said during a conference, ‘AMMO India 2022,’ jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and Centre for Joint Warfare Studies.

Import substitution of ammunition, which is a recurring requirement, is a top priority for the government. It has imposed a phased ban on the import of different types of ammunition to achieve self-reliance.

Singh said precision-guided ammunition will play a key role in future warfare — equal to weapons and platforms — due to its constantly-evolving nature.

He said the use of such ammunition played a critical role during the Kargil war and the 2019 air strikes on a terror base in Pakistan’s Balakot. “Earlier, only the size and explosive capacity of bombs mattered, but now their smartness is equally important,” Singh said.

The minister went on describe the advantages of smart weapons for precision targeting.

“If any enemy base is to be destroyed, then precision ammunition will selectively target it and not any civil establishments. This is not the case with traditional ammunition. Wars are fought with the country’s military, not with its people. Through precision ammunition, destruction of civil establishments can be avoided and the values of peace and humanity in times of war can be preserved.”

He enumerated the steps taken by the government to boost ‘aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) in defence including curbing imports and allocating funds for domestic procurement.

The government has imposed a phased ban on the import of 310 different types of weapons, systems and ammunition (through three positive indigenisation lists) as well as earmarked ₹84,598 crore — 68 % of the military’s capital acquisition budget — for purchasing locally produced weapons and systems in 2022-23.

“Be it guided extended range rockets for Pinaka, advanced light-weight torpedo or anti-radiation missiles, there are 43 such items in the third (positive indigenisation) list. This reflects our commitment to achieve self-reliance in the field and our confidence in the research, development and manufacturing prowess of the domestic defence industry,” the minister said.
India on Tuesday cleared indigenous defence purchases worth ₹28,732 crore including armed drones, carbines, bullet-proof jackets and ammunition.

“India ranks among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of military spending, which makes it one of the most attractive markets for defence. We believe in having a healthy mix of local endeavours and foreign collaboration in this journey of self-reliance,” he added.

FICCI senior vice-president Subhrakant Panda said the ministry should begin trials of all import substitution options available in a time-bound manner to enhance the private sector’s participation.

“Indigenisation through handholding is the way to go,” he said.

The post Defence Minister pitches for self-reliance in ammunition sector appeared first on IMR.

The themes of eight sessions included emerging technologies and industry capabilities, air threat, integrated air defence battle, communications for the air defence battle, research & development (R&D) and ‘atmanirbharta’ in air defence.

Inaugural Session

Welcome Address. Lt Gen Sunil Srivastava, Director, CENJOWS gave the opening remarks with the salience of Air & Missile Defence in protection of national assets and during both defensive and offensive operations. He stressed that the deliberations were important especially in view of emerging challenges with new weapons, war fighting concepts and impending establishment of IADC.

Inaugural Address. Lt Gen AP Singh, Director General Army Air Defence (AAD) gave the inaugural address and talked about  air and missile threats, which, unlike in the past, have become potent and unpredictable. He highlighted the following issues:-

We are experiencing rapid change in technology in sensors and air defence weapons systems. In particular the stealth technology and unmanned vehicles present a formidable challenge.

Air defence equipment cost intensive and needs to be replaced in a phased manner, bearing lifecycle costs in mind.

Legacy equipment, therefore, needs to be sustained and upgraded.

Communication is the bed rock of air defence operations, which should be integrated, instant and real time.

The control of operations needs decentralization with distributed responsibility.

Work is in progress by both, Army and Air force to collate and present inputs of all sensors on one integrated platform.

Industry should offer solutions to upgrade/ modify legacy weapons.

Special Address. Air Mshl SP Wagle, Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (DCIDS) (Capability Development), gave a special talk. He mentioned that the current phase of reorganization into IADC would end the hitherto single service fragmented approach to air and missile defence. He highlighted the following issues:-

 The concept of operations and training has to change with integrated air defence operations.

To counter the emerging air and missile defence challenges, new weapons have either been acquired or are in process of being procured by the three services to beef up our air defence in all areas.

Rapid development of weapon technology means faster obsolescence of existing weapons. This poses a challenge in view of budget constraints.

Present day threat comprises a mix of disruptive and low technology weapons.

In the current warfighting scenario, even a weak country possessing low tech weapons can challenge a stronger nation. 

Expensive missiles/ weapons cannot be viable options to intercept / neutralize the low-tech weapons.

Since traditional threats will continue to exist with non-traditional threats, we have to develop capability to tackle both.

Industry’s R/D should keep focus on the current threats.

Use of Artificial Intelligence can shorten the OODA loop and enable safe operations without fratricide.

Access new technology to neutralize new threats such as unmanned / Hypersonic weapons and cruise missiles.

Besides active measures, passive measures and decoys still have great relevance.

Collaborative and joint approach by all stake holders in air defence is the way ahead.

Capacity of Indian Industry. Col KV Kuber, Director Defence & Aerospace, gave out the Industry Perspective. He said that Indian Industry had acquired skill and capacity to build sensors, missiles and tactical weapons and their ammunition for the armed forces. Several indigenous industries like Tata Advanced Systems, Adani, Reliance, Bharat Dynamics, Kalyani Group, BEL, BDL, etc, the have technology and capacity to meet the India’s air defence needs. But, still a lot needs to be done especially to tackle emerging threats in unmanned vehicles, hypersonic, stealth and cyber and electromagnetic domains.

Sessions and Speakers

Air Mshl Anil Chopra, Director Centre for Air Power Studies, chaired Session 2, the theme of which was Industry Capabilities. Ravi M, Bharat Dynamics Ltd. spoke on the work being carried out by BDL to manufacture missiles and the technologies available to them. Rann Marom, VP Business Development India, Rada Electronic Industries, spoke on his company’s capabilities, Abhishek Agarwal, Sr Manager, Saarloha Advanced Materials spoke on “Making India Self-reliant in Defece and Aerospace.”

Air Vice Marshal Makarand Ranade, ACAS Ops (Space), Air HQ chaired the session, the theme of which was “Contours of the Air Threat”. Gp Capt S Dhankhar, from Air Ops Branch, Air HQ spoke on “The Threat from Stand-off and Precision Attack.” Col Rajneesh Suyal, Col Weapons & Systems, Army Design Bureau spoke on “Emerging Threat from UAVs/ Drones.” Cdr Gokul Suresh, Cdr Aircraft Acquisition, ACNS (Air), Naval HQ spoke on “The Air & Missile Threat to Naval Assets.”

Air Vice Marshal PK Srivastava, former Director Bharat Dynamics Ltd and VP L&T chaired the session, whose theme was “Emerging Air Defence Technologies.” Gp Capt KB Mathews, Gp Capt Ops AD GE, Air HQ spoke on “Challenges of Integrated AD Battle and Air Space Management.” Col HK Parashar, of Army Air Defence Directorate spoke on “Low level threat in the Tactical Battle Area and its neutralisation.” Cmde Alok Ananda, Cmde Naval Ops, Naval HQ spoke on “The Air Defence Battle at Sea.”

This was followed by a Special talk by Lt Gen Rajeev Sabharwal, former SOC-in-C on “Communications: A decisive catalyst for the realisation of an Integrated Air Defence Command.”

This was followed by another Special Talk by Lt Gen (Dr) VK Saxena, former DG Army Air Defence, on “Missiles & Strategic Systems.”

Another session on “Emerging Air Defence Technologies” was chaired by Brig Jagdeep Dahiya, former Commander Air Defence Brigade. Gp Capt Saurabh Gupta, of Air Defence Branch, Air HQ spoke on “Lessons from recent aerial engagements in regional conflicts.” Col R Sathya Narayanan, of Army Air Defence Directorate gave a talk on “Lessons for ground-based air defence engagements in contemporary conflicts.”

A session on “Research & Development” was chaired by Air Mshl Rajeev Sachdeva, former DCIDS (Ops), HQ IDS. Sheik Althaf, Scientist G, LRDE, DRDO gave a talk on “Latest developments in AD Radar.” PK Tewari, Scientist F, DRDL, Hyderabad spoke on “Missile-based AD weapon systems.” Dr PN Dwivedi, Scientist F, RCI, DRDO, Hyderabad gave an “Overview of Ballistic Missile Defence.”

The last session on “Atmanirbharta in Air Defence” was chaired by Lt Gen Kuldeep Singh, former DG Army Air Defence. Air Vice Mshl Narmdeshwar Tiwari, ACAS (Plans), Air HQ spoke on “Ongoing and planned procurements and indigenous efforts.” Cdr Inder Kumar Singh, Dte of Staff Requirements, Naval HQ spoke on “Ongoing and planned procurements and indigenous efforts.”

Air Mshl LK Malhotra, former SASO Eastern Air Command gave the Valedictory Address. Lt Gen Sunil Srivastava, Director, CENJOWS gave the Closing Remarks and Maj Gen Ravi Arora, Chief Editor Indian Military Review gave the Vote of Thanks.

Key Issues Needing Attention

Some key issues which came to the fore during the deliberations by the speakers were: –

Air Defence faces omni present and multifarious threats, from unmanned vehicles, hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles. What should be the Air Defense response to counter these multifarious threats?

Comments. Neutralizing multifarious and complex threats is a challenge. A multi-layered defence and joint network-centric approach can provide credible detection and defence against the aircraft threats. Presently, there is no credible defence against the hypersonic missiles/ glide vehicles. Russian S-400 AD system which will be inducted in India has the capability to intercept hypersonic vehicles as well as ballistic and cruise missiles. However, as defence technology progresses, counter measures will emerge. Technologies such as directed energy weapons, particle beams and other non-kinetic weapons will be likely options for an effective defence against hypersonic missiles.

The air threat particularly in the Tactical Battle Area is complex and challenging.

Comments. The integrated realtime air situation picture will enable quick reaction against the multifarious threats in the TBA while ensuring the safety of own aircraft. Secure communications with redundancy will have to be ensured.

A low technology adversary too can present a challenge to a technologically superior nation.

Comments. Use of relatively cheap rockets and unmanned vehicles in the recent conflicts has brought focus on these weapons. An integrated air picture from the visual and electronic sensors and use of combination of hard and soft kill options would provide effective defence against these threats. Presently, Israeli Iron Dome type of systems are the only answer for the unguided rockets, which are also effective against unmanned platforms. But it is not cost-effective against unguided rockets. R&D for cheaper non-kinetic, multi-use options must continue to neutralize such threats.

It is not possible to change/ replace all legacy weapons due budgetary constraints.

Comments. Upgradation/ modification of the existing weapon systems will ensure that we continue using them with the modern weapon systems.

How do we tackle the emerging ISR and combat drone threats that manifest in different sizes and shapes ranging from very small to large and with less detectability due to low RCS and low velocity?

Comments. For unmanned platforms, a combination of defensive actions like Kinetic and Directed Energy weapons and other non-kinetic measures will have to be employed to neutralize them. DRDO is alive to the challenge. It has already developed an anti-drone system to tackle the drone threats. More anti-drone solutions will emerge in due course with the ongoing iDEX innovations.

Will futuristic Integrated Air Defence Command shorten the OODA loop?

Comments. Real time integrated air situation picture with identification will be available to air defence units at all times. This will ensure that all air borne threats are challenged, diverted or destroyed by suitably chosen air defence weapons without any loss of time.

How will a common air picture be ensured to fight air defence battle?

Comments. All sensors of the three Services and civil agencies will be integrated through IACCS, which carries out multi-sensory tracking and generates a collated composite air picture with identification of all detections for an integrated air and missile defence.

How centralized command and control and decentralized execution of operations will be ensured by the IADC?

Comments. IACCS of Indian Air Force will be linked in real time with Akashteer communication of the Indian Army and Trigun of Indian Navy. This will ensure that all speech and data exchange will take place between them in real-time at designated hierarchy. As a result of this, it will be possible to have centralized control of operations while allowing decentralized execution of tasks.

At present common training of the air defence personnel of Army, Navy and Air force is not carried out.

Comments. Syllabus relevant to the role of each Service should be formulated. This is important to develop common understanding of the air defence processes and procedures.

Why did Armenia suffer heavy losses as compared to Azerbaijan in Nagorno – Karabakh conflict? What are lessons for us?

Comments. Employment of passive defence measures such as camouflage, dispersal of vital assets, use of decoys, blackout and firefighting are relevant against both manned and unmanned threats, since it is still not easy to strike or collect ISR data when target area is well camouflaged. Armenia ignored this vital principle and suffered heavy losses. These measures are relevant in our context too.

Adversaries will use of Cyber and EW measure to blunt our air defences.

Comments. Adversaries may precede attacks by disrupting our command-and-control network and jamming/ saturating our sensors. We, therefore, must train and frequently exercise our operators to discern and operate using alternate measures of communication and detection and employ anti-jamming measures to burn through and detect the threats.

Networks and Communications for Integrated AD Command.   

Lt Gen Rajeev Sabharwal argued that the present communication architecture linking sensors, shooters and decision makers is platform centric, tightly coupled, linear and hierarchical, ie, very stove-piped. He stated that the requirement was to have loosely coupled smart entities, which are sensor/ shooter agnostic, akin to a “publish/ subscribe” topology. Such a system will be asynchronous in time & space, with data accessible/ available to the entitled user anywhere, anytime.

The system should have Low Probability of Interception (LPI), Low Probability of Detection (LPD) and Anti-Jamming features.

Networked links between Akashteer (IACCS at JADC) and Trigun (IACCS at MOC) were recommended. RASP should be available to Army and Naval users in real time. Applications should be network agnostic – IACCS, Akashteer, Trigun should be hosted at national level at Central Data Centres (CDC)/ Designated Service Data Centres and at the theatre level at Theatre Data Centres. There will be integrated data flow to CDS/ NCP. Data sharing mechanism between services data centres to be finalised, as also Common Security framework.

The present networking is only in the physical domain, but needs to be extended to the ‘Social Domain’ (ie any decision maker, any sensor, any shooter) in a “functional”, pan-India Integrated AD Comd. The decision making has to be collaborative.

The network integrates all physical domains (Land, Sea, Air, Space) – Inter- and Intra- domains. Sensors, Cloud, Decision Makers, Shooters (Independent of orgnisation Services) geographic locations, platforms.

AD entities of the 3 Services from tactical to strategic levels must be integrated. IAF, Navy and Army should migrate to NFS as media. NFS Nodes will be linked through voice switches and data centres of services.

Seamless intra-Service communications demand common equipments and trained manpower.

All applications should run on AI engines and data analytics.

Recommendations

Following recommendations have been made:

Since the threat from drones is common to the three Services, a common strategy/plan should be worked out to neutralize these threats. Automation and Artificial intelligence will further make this threat potent. Own “swarming” counter-threats should be developed concurrently.

Communication of three Services should be linked for real time speech and data transfer at the designated level for centralized command and control and effective execution of air defence tasks.

Upgradation/ modification of the legacy air defence weapons should be taken up urgently.

A Joint Air defence directive should be issued before IADC becomes functional.

A relevant joint air defence training strategy should be formulated for the personnel of three Services.

Coordination should be carried out with DRDO and other research agencies to find viable solutions for the new and emerging low cost threats.

A strategy should be devised for neutralization of the ballistic/ cruise and hypersonic threats. Indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) and planned induction of NASAM, S-400 system will give capability to tackle these threats. Since the IADC will have the centralized air picture and wherewithal and trained personnel, IADC is the most suited for strategic missile defence.

IACCS links must be extended to the deployed army and naval sensors for generation of composite picture at the earliest.

The threat of stealth fighter/ bombers is a reality in our area, Hence, induction of low frequency/ quantum radars, which can detect such threats are needed particularly in the forward areas.

Army legacy AD weapons like L70, ZSU 23, and fire control radars should be modified/ upgraded to enable these to tackle the new emerging threats.

Both active and passive measures are important steps to neutralize/ divert the threats, even when the    attacks are guided by high-tech navigational aids and targeting systems and carry PGMs.

Cyber and EW action on our command-and-control network and sensors in all probability will precede and/or occur during the manned and unmanned air attacks by the adversary Hence, continuous upgradation of anti-cyber and ECCM must be become part of training curriculum and be practised in the joint exercises.

IADC, when established, should be entrusted with ballistic missile defence since composite air situation is available in which BMD sensors too could be integrated to warn of the ballistic and cruise missile threats.

DRDO has displayed excellent capability in indigenous strategic missiles. We still need to develop long range, medium range, short and QRSAMs.

De-conflicting defensive counter-air responsibilities between proposed IADC and Theatre Commands calls for detailed deliberation.

Valedictory Address

Air Mshl LK Malhotra, covered the highlights of the whole r. He suggested that we need not reinvent the weapon systems. Wherever possible, we should seek transfer of technology and carry out indigenous manufacturing of the weapon systems.

The post EVENT REVIEW – Air & Missile Defence India 2021 appeared first on IMR.

Night vision devices (NVDs) are lacking both in quantity and quality in the armed forces particularly in the Army. In recent years, transgressions by the Chinese have doubled and face-offs have increased manifold. The armed forces have to increase surveillance and upgrade our night vision capabilities to secure the borders. Along the Line of Control (LC) cease fire violations and infiltration attempts by Pakistan have also increased.

Scaling of the NVDs for the Indian Army has been finalized. There is a colossal requirement of NVDs, which require substantial funding. Despite the high cost, these devices are required urgently for achieving optimal surveillance capabilities. Soldiers must be equipped with night vision from sub-tactical level operations to operational levels.

Recent Developments

The requirement of NVDs for use in various types of terrain – high altitude, jungle, riverine or desert – each with their peculiarities. Moreover, NVDs should must withstand vagaries of weather, record and communicate images to higher headquarters, have in-built global positioning system (GPS) and laser range finder (LRF), be easily portable and easily maintainable. For easy upgradation and better flexibility future night sights should be modular with a common basic structure and add-ons based on requirements. Critical requirements for NVDs are weapon compatible ranges, ruggedness, easy sustainability and adequate power requirements.

Industry Perspective

To meet large number of NVDs required by the armed forces, ‘Make in India’ provides an opportunity to the private industry. DPSUs still have an unfair advantage as they often bag contracts on nomination basis. Participation must be based on merit. Transfer of technology (ToT) route may not be ideal as it does not cater for evolving technology. Indian companies must develop in-house technologies Overseas companies are far ahead in cooled and uncooled sensors, new detectors like XGA, VGA Short Wave Infra Red (SWIR), MWIR and LWIR.

New Technologies

Newer devices are getting better in Magnification, Resolution, Sensitivity, Angle of field of view, Eye relief, Power of the Infrared Illuminator and Detection and recognition distance. They are also getting lighter and smaller.

New developments in the area of image intensification and thermal devices have been successful in providing vision over a wide range of spectrum coupled with advent of sensor fusion technology.

Currently, high-end infrared imaging tech requires cryogenic freezing to work and devices are costly to produce. new technologies are being invented to work at room temperatures and produce extremely lightweight devices, cheap and easy to mass produce.

Market Projections

The defence industry is adopting NVDs to cater to the increasing demand for patrolling, surveillance and conventional and counter-insurgency operations. Adoption of the NVDs integrated with near-infrared (NIR) imaging technology for security and surveillance applications with aid market growth.

On the basis of technology, the market is segmented into image intensifier and thermal imaging, out of which, the image intensifier segment is anticipated to have maximum market shares on the back of its wide range of use for different application for instance, surveillance, targeting, navigation and others.

The global night vision devices market size is projected to reach USD 9.02 billion by the end of 2027. The massive investments in the research and development of efficient products will contribute to the growth of the overall market in the coming years.

Night Vision Devices Market by Device Type (Binoculars and Monocular, Cameras, Glasses, Goggles, and Scopes), by Application (Border surveillance, Engineering, Fire and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Maritime & Coastal surveillance, Medical, Security, and Others (Natural Resource Agency Applications, etc.), the market was worth USD 4.66 billion in 2019 and will exhibit a CAGR of 8.8% during the forecast period, 2020-2027.

Objectives

The event will bring together all stakeholders including users, staff involved in the procurement process, maintenance agencies, industry and scientific community to exchange ideas and information on latest technologies, products, challenges and the way ahead in improving night fighting capabilities.

NVD Requirements

The Infantry have declared their requirement of TI and II sights. That’s not counting the mechanised forces, artillery and all observation devices:

Ni Sight for Carbine (II) $542 mn
Ni Sight for Rifle (TI) $812 mn
Ni Sight for Rifle (II) $650 mn
Ni Sight for LMG (TI) $339 mn
Ni Sight for LMG (II) $ 91 mn
Ni Sight for MGL (TI) $ 87 mn
Ni Sight for MMG (TI) $125 mn
Ni Sight for Gren Lr (TI) $105 mn
TI Sight for 84mm RL $228 mn
II Sight for 84mm RL $3.6 mn
Total Cost $2983 mn

Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap 2018
Night Vision Sights for Tanks 4000
Night Vision Sights for ICVs 2000
Helmet Mounted NVBs Hundreds
Next-gen NVDs (IR/TI) Hundreds
TI Sights 55,000
II Sights 180,000

The post Event Preview: Night Vision & Electro-optics India 2022 appeared first on IMR.

COVID-19 is an unprecedented, worldwide pandemic that has been compared to the Second War and 1918 Spanish Flu in terms of the impact on human behaviour. Latest technologies for healthcare are playing a crucial role in keeping our society functional in times of lockdowns and quarantines and augmenting the medical support to the Armed Forces of India during pandemic times. The main focus related to COVID-19 was on three medical activities: diagnaosis, surveillance and prevention. Digital healthcare technologies such as in Telemedicine, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality/ Augmented Reality and Robotics are the latest developments in this field and the Armed Forces and healthcare workers must leverage these.

Introductory Session

Recently Indian government launched Digital Health Mission to address some of the major challenges in terms of the health, infrastructure, health records, pharmacy services etc. Cloud computing in healthcare industry presents the possibility of military healthcare to synergise and coordinate these activities and technologies. Role of technology in healthcare includes preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative to incl EHR, diagnostics, reaching the unreached through telemedicine, wearable devices and monitoring systems, using AI algorithms to reduce errors and combat medical care. Biggest problem is our systems of education, research and healthcare. Telemedicine and remote medical care are possible ways of dealing with the situation wherein evacuation is not possible, especially when moving the casualties by road in bad weather conditions and in areas like Siachen Sector North.

In the first session, the Opening Address was given by Lt Gen Sunil Srivastava, Director CENJOWS. The Inaugural Address was given by Lt Gen Bipin Puri, Former DGAFMS and Vice Chancellor of King George Medical University. The Keynote Address was given by Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar, DCIDS (Medical), HQ Integrated Defence Staff.

COVID-19 and Novel Initiatives

In the second session on Covid-19 and Novel Initiatives, under the chairmanship of Air Marshal (Dr) Pawan Kapoor, Former DGMS (Air), the Keynote Address was delivered by Lt Gen Daljit Singh, Director General Medical Services (Army). Gp Capt TVSVGK Tilak, Professor (Medicine) & Medical Oncologist, AFMC, spoke on “Covid-19 care – Initiatives taken by the Armed Forces” and Mr Dilip Patil, Founder Director of Trivector Group spoke on solutions provided by his company.

The Nation’s health nearly infrastructure collapsed during the COVID pandemic. Virus has impacted almost 243 Million people across the globe with almost around 4.95 million deaths. The Armed Forces, mainly Medical Services have been glittering examples of taking up the challenges of COVID pandemic. AFMS came together to support the initiative of diagnostics, especially point of care devices and by reaching the unreached through telemedicine.

Remote Health Monitoring

In the third session on Remote Health Care, under the chairmanship of Lt Gen Anup Banerji, Former Director General Armed Forces Medical Services, the Keynote Address was delivered by Lt Gen Sanjay M Londhe, Former Director General Dental Services. Maj Gen Aftab Alam, Asst Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Medical) spoke on “Remote Health Monitoring Technologies.”

Never before has remote monitoring gained so much relevance as during the pandemic. Large number of cases, risks of infections to the health care workers and non-availability of beds, led to reliance on remote monitoring. Remote Health Monitoring techniques can also be used for patients with neurological diseases, Alzheimer’s/ Parkinson diseases, cardio problems, diabetes etc by using gadgets/ sensors ie smart watch, smart vest etc. By predicting hemorrhage, through remote monitoring, the life of a soldier can be saved, which is a major cause of loss of life in combat conditions. For oral monitoring, the main advantage of connectivity is that the person can be at home, which can improve the people’s care at home, reduced chair time and visits. This will allow more efficient use of clinical resources, better screening and diagnosis.

Smart and Connected Healthcare Enabled by IOT

In the fourth session on Smart and Connected Healthcare Enabled by IOT under the chairman: Lt Gen CS Narayanan, Former Dy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff  (Medical), the Keynote Address was delivered by Surg V Adm N Chawla, Director General Medical Services (Navy). Air Cmde Shankar Subramanian, Air Cmde AFMS (Planning & Training), Dte Gen of Medical Services spoke on “Smart and Connected Healthcare Enabled by IOT.”

Internet of things, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence have revolutionized health care making it more efficient, more convenient and more personalized beyond smart watches. Embedded, implantable or ingestible sensors can monitor everything be it cardiac arrest, baby’s heartbeat etc and they can be programmed to administer medication. They can predict health trends across the cultures and countries. AI is used in patient care, research and administration and logistics. AI/ IoT are here to stay and we need to scale up the equipment so that we can use these technologies.

Medicare Under Special Conditions

In the last session on Medicare Under Special Conditions, under the chairmanship of Maj Gen Ravi Arora, Chief Editor Indian military Review, Col SS Roy, Col (CBRN), HQ Integrated Defence Staff spoke on “Medical care of CBRN casualties” and Brig A Jairam, Prof of Nephrology, St John’s Medical College, Bengaluru, spoke on “Advances in High Altitude and Extreme Cold Climate Areas.”

The threat of CBRNe casualties is real as these weapons are being used worldwide be it Chechnya, Beirut, Tokyo, etc. CBRNe casualties can be chemical casualties, biological casualties, radiological casualties, nuclear casualties or a combined casualties, ie, chemical, biological or radiological with concurrent traumatic injury. There could be psychological casualties in which the patient has anxiety, stress, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), etc. As far as high altitude and cold climate areas are concerned, problems of chill blain, frostbite, HAPO exists. Understanding high altitude physiology is very important to deal with HAPO, AMC/HACE and acclimatization. Diamox assisted rapid acclimatization is feasible.

The Closing Remarks were given by Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar, DCIDS (Medical), HQ Integrated Defence Staff. The Vote of Thanks was given by Maj Gen Ravi Arora.

Challenges

Certain challenges which were highlighted in the webinar are elucidated below:-

(a) Education. Studies are going on in each Service how to incorporate new technology in medicine. However, impact of Tri Services optimization for theatre led integration is need of the hour.

(b) COVID Hospitals. Collaboration with other Govt agencies and Private stakeholders, infrastructural shortcomings like shortages of beds, House Keeping Staff and crowd management, workplace ergonomics for staff ie doctors, nursing attendant, nurse etc and integration of protocols and SOPs with the civilians.

(c) Teledentistry. Acceptance of teledentistry by dentists and patients and resolution of legal issues remains a challenge.

(d) Monitoring. Accuracy of data and informational integrity, intentional/ unintentional wrong data entry and more importantly data privacy/ cyber security incl service attacks. The most common defense against denial of service attacks is redundancy, but in a healthcare environment, it may be difficult to provide this defense because many of these monitoring devices are deeply embedded into critical life care systems.

(e) Patient Care. Patient does not have all the information about doctors. Hence, motivation/ willingness of the patient is most important for effective use of the technology.

(f) Medical Records. Medical Records of Armed Forces are stored in multiple formats, both paper and computer. The data of PME and various physicians’ opinions is collected in a decentralized manner and organized poorly. Treating physicians don’t have access to patient medical history hence there is a need to have the Electronic Health Records (EHR).

(g) Manpower Issues. COVID pandemic highlighted the shortcomings of manpower, both in quantity and quality. Manpower issues make it hard to handle data, create time pressures and pressure of EHR.

(h) Ownership and Accountability. Data access, backup, data storage, data recovery etc are major problems which the armed forces have to deal with. Accountability of health care provider, standardisation of data, data exchanges and ownership of the health care data needs to be institutionalized and an elaborate and formal policy on the same must be evolved.

(j) Costs. Interoperability amongst multiple components and recording continuous data of the patient requires more people, which will result in high costs.

(k) Portable Devices. Portable devices should be understandable, trust worthy and should not get disturbed in the battle field conditions.

(l) Connectivity Issues. Connectivity issues will definitely increase the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots and particularly in the field of health care.

(m) Privacy Issues. In countries like South Korea, they were monitoring COVID patients almost continuously on a 24 by seven basis through smartphones. Such situations create privacy issues.

(n) Problem of Nurses. Nurses spend 70% of the time, filling 45 to 65 registers/ databases on a daily basis and 30% time is being spent on patient care. This leaves the nurses and the patient deeply dissatisfied.

(o) CBRNe Casualties. Against the requirement of huge logistics support for evacuation and management of casualties, there is no trained manpower, decontamination of casualties, non-availability of commercial facility for production of CBRNe equipmenpts/ drugs, no definitive antidote treatment, no hospitals which are geared up CBRNe casualties. Most of the labs are not capable of detecting biological agents/ toxins.

(p) High Altitude Areas. Prolonged deployment (because of Chinese intrusion) in Ladakh sector of 6 months or more has not been studied. The troops may have to stay for two years and this is not given in the AO 110/80. Another problem is thrombosis in the brain, heart attack, stroke etc which is happening to young soldiers in high altitude.

(q) Casualty Evacuation. Casualty evacuation is always a challenge in high altitude and is a lifeline in high altitude.

(r) Army Aviation Challenges in High Altitude Areas. Lying patient cannot be carried in Cheetah/ Chetak, helipads with ALH capability are limited in forward locations.

Recommendations

Certain recommendations are given below:-

(a) Genomics. The rising focus on developing genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics will be the next step forward and we must, like all other superpowers, focus some of our resources on research in this area.

(b) Research. Develop a Research Wing within the AFMS for military medicines. Our research needs to be very focused and National Digital Health Mission is great step towards for health issues.

(c) Brain Storming Sessions. Brain storming sessions at each level to identify gaps and conduct focused research along with the local commanders.

(d) Collaborate. Collaborate with the Industry for implementing technology in a time bound manner.

(e) EHR. Electronic Health Records will open new opportunities for healthcare professionals and the patients.EHR is moving at a very slow pace but this will have to be at a disruptive pace. We need to move rapidly towards EHR with a top-down approach.

(f) Unconventional Warfare. To be prepared for unconventional warfare ie CBRNe warfare, facilities and equipment need to be scaled up.

(g) Mental Wellbeing. Mental wellbeing needs to be considered for rehabilitation. Hence, National Digital Wellness Platform ie MANAS (Mental Health And Augmentation System) will be launched by Scientific Advisor, in collaboration with AFMC Pune, C-DAC Bengaluru and NIMHANS, Bengaluru.

(h) Education. The feedback system for education must be developed to rapidly evolve the curriculum for any upcoming technologies and training all healthcare workers to be comfortable using them.

(j) Interoperability. Medical services of armed forces ie Army, Airforce & Navy needs to be integrated. Defence Digital Health Mission has made progress in the last year, and the study report is available in NHA. They are offering us the complete software package and the system will be a part of the same cloud and that the system will be secure.

(k) Software. We are developing indigenous software, iOS and android version is ready. It is at the beta stage.

(l)  Technical Capability of Healthcare Workers. We need to improve the technical capability of our health care workers.

(m) Emergency Powers. During the COVID times emergency powers in DFPDS were given to Indian Armed Forces for procurement as a result PPE, Ventilators, Fumigation Machines, Mobile Oxygen Systems, Oxygen Generations plants etc were procured from indigenous vendors and also vendors from various countries incl New Zealand, Germany etc. These should be enhanced/ reviewed.

(n) Nano Strike Technology. Nano Strike utilizes a comprehensive range of physical concurrent pathogen inactivation processes, working in unision at the nanosecond level, to dis-infect the air. As these processes happen simultaneously, many millions times per second, it seems to the human eye that a virus, bacteria or fungi is obliterated in one deadly strike. Novaerus Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma differentiation has been tested and proven effective. The machine costs in the range approximately is Rs 2 lakhs to 10 lakhs, for a 400 sq ft room.

(o) Teledentistry. It uses a Live Video and it facilitates dental care, guidance, education or treatment. It has proved to be beneficial for remote dental screening, diagnosis, consultation and proposing treatment.

(p) Internet of Things. It uses sensors and software for the purpose of collecting and exchanging data, IoMT and IoDT etc. This data could be used in eventual risk assessment and research. This has revolutionised healthcare management via remote monitoring.

(q) Natural Language Processing.    We used to get 300 patients in OPD and they used to ask hundred queries which are extremely personal in nature. Hence, we identified about 100 common questions which are in the patient’s mind, made a video, converting to the Indian languages. By using the Natural Language Processing, the algorithm would choose the most appropriate video, which is likely to answer the questions of the patient.

(r) Problem of Nurses. Use conversational, artificial intelligence in which a tab is given to nurses and she keeps a small checklist to ask the patient and she uses the tab to enter data through voice and the records are maintained automatically.

(s) Collaborate with the Industry. IoT based/ AI based algorithm by which we are able to connect all these devices, hence we need to collaborate with the industry for all these technologies.

(t)  Benefits of Remote. Patient Monitoring. Benefits incl the personalized and detailed health information to the care provider, faster access of health services to the patient, enabling early detection of deterioration, reducing emergency visits/ hospitalization and more importantly reducing load on overburdened hospitals and clinics.

(u) Indigenous Solutions. We must procure the technology from an Indian vendor, not Chinese and all components must be indigenous. We must encrypt that data so that it cannot be used by anybody else. Standardisation for interoperability so that the two systems to communicate and share services with each other at the right time. We must have a communication protocol which the system follows. As regards the ethical issues, we must have consent as to who can see the data, with whom he shares the data and the device protocols should be there.

(v)  CBRNe Casualties. Est robust surveillance system to detect bio and chem agent, BSL-III Labs should be est, govt should designate more hospitals for CBRNe Cas, educate public about basic CBRNe survival drills, and ensure commercial production of CBRNe eqpts/ drugs and introduce basic CBRNe curriculum at Sr Sec School/ Colleges.

(w)  High Altitude Areas.     

(i)   Medicines. Acetazolamide (Diamox)/ Dexamethasone tablets for prevention and treatment of AMS. For preventing cold injuries, Alocalie Aloe Vera Cream (50%) with Vit E is a good cream.

(ii)  Misc.    

(aa) Stretcher. A Stretcher has been developed, through which you can actually drag the cas across. The suggestion is that it can be a electronic/ battery operated stretcher.

(ab) Hyperbaric Oxygen. Successful treatment of frost bite with hyperbaric oxygen treatment and hyperbaric oxygen chamber has been commissioned at Hunder near Siachen Glacier which will save a lot of limbs.

(ac) Hypertension. High altitude deployment has induced systemic hypertension in the past in which pulmonary artery undergoes contraction, becomes tight and causes pressure to go up in the pulmonary arteries. Such events require more studies in high altitude areas.

(ad) Out of Box Solutions. Eight hours of oxygen every day to a soldier. Each bed in the shelter has one such cylinder (jumbo cylinder of 24000L, catering for a week) which is refilled. It is used where there are shelters along with the electricity. The soldier has a peaceful sleep at night and he is ready for the next day. Study must be conducted on this project.           

(x) Army Aviation. Helipads without ALH capability in forward locations needs to be upgraded to become ALH capable.

Conclusion

The webinar covered the entire spectrum of military medicines from the past, the present and the future. We need to close the gaps between education, research and health. Military medicine in India has done some of the pioneering work, be it discovery of malaria, to the original description of high altitude, pulmonary edema, etc. All these reports were prepared by military medicine specialists. Hence, we need to prepare a list ie pinpoint the things that came out from this discussion that need to be taken on by the leadership on a mission mode with delivery in mind.

The post EVENT REVIEW: Military Healthcare 2021 appeared first on IMR.

The aim of thE seminar was to expose delegates to Artillery Technology through direct interaction with the researchers, designers, developers, and manufacturers both in the public and private sector.

The speakers included domain experts who were involved in conceptualising artillery operations, framing qualitative requirements, designing and developing to specifications, prototyping, manufacturing and controlling the quality of artillery equipment, ammunition and missiles.

It was the first time that students at the School of Artillery got to hear the best brains in the country about artillery modernisation.

One of the mandates of CENJOWS is to bring the industry and users together for better synergy. The OFB and private industry shared their capabilities and emerging technologies. Industry representatives were able to hear interact with professionals and practitioners of the art of warfare attending courses at the SoA to understand and deliver state-of-the-art equipment, which should perform beyond the soldier’s expectation. The students used the unique opportunity to interact meaningfully with the tacticians, scientists, designers, developers, manufacturers, quality controllers and acquisition experts and squeeze the maximum mileage from this event.

Leading factories of the OFB, ie, the Gun Carriage Factory, Gun and Shell Factory, Cossipore, Ordnance Factory Medak and Ordnance Factory Dehradun who are all involved in the manufacture of components of artillery gun systems or the whole equipment participated with experts. From the DRDO, the two leading laboratories – High Explosives Material Research Laboratory and Armament Research & Development Establishment – sent there speakers. The Director General of Quality Assurance has his best experts in Ammunition and Armamentand the brightest minds in the private industry were there to educate the delegates on the projects that they had undertaken.

With support from the Army Training Command and the Directorate General of Artillery, an all-encompassingagenda was drawn up. There was something of value for all who attended – from AIGs to YOs to LGSC students and even some of the experts from various organisations.

Going beyond the precis, which impart basic knowledge on concepts and theories with facts and figures, IIT graduates, post graduates from foreign universities, officers with rich experience in the Regiment of Artillery shared their thoughts on emerging technologies and latest developments.

The future of artillery is intricately linked to the future of warfare and the future battlefield. As far as the Indian Army is concerned and the threats that it is likely to face in the next two decades, no dramatic changes are foreseen in the role and importance of artillery. If it all, the importance and the need for massive indirect fire is only likely to increase. Short and swift wars are even likely to enhance the requirement of artillery fire. No doubt, dramatic changes are taking place in surveillance and target acquisition, engagement techniques and precision delivery of munitions. These are only enhancing the effect of artillery fire. In today’s battlefield, preponderance of artillery is a battle-winning factor. We must always have an edge of the over the enemy in over ability to plaster him and pulverize him in all engagements.

Rapid changes are taking place in the artillery. The pace was unimaginable 10 or 20 years ago. The OFB is no longer a white elephant. It has begun in-house design and development, which is forcing Indian and foreign companies to team together. The private sector has taken bold steps and committed a lot of resources to producing record-breaking equipment, which is globally accepted. There are hardly any big-ticket land systems, which are not within their capabilities to produce, albeit with foreign collaboration.

Artillery guns are judged on the basis of range, accuracy and consistency. The Bofors gun had set a benchmark in these parameters ever since it was inducted. In the new systems being brought to the market all three sectors – DRDO, OFB and Private Industry – have proved themselves. The seminar was the platform to learn how they had done it.

The adage which says we should have 30 per cent state-of-the-art, 30 per cent current and contemporary and remainder 40 per cent in the final stages of their lifecycle, may not hold true any longer.

The Indian Army is changing bulk of its artillery to the medium class. It will have to start increasing the percentage of precision guided munitions (PGM) at a much faster pace. It is imperative that India produces its own indigenous PGMs and loitering missiles so as to reduce the exorbitant costs involved in importing them. Some armies give more attention to the projectile rather than to the guns that fire them.

Space based surveillance means, new class or radars and UAVs are changing the nature of warfare. Increased detection and identification ranges have introduced stand-off warfare into the military glossary.

The Infantry may be the Queen of Battle, but Artillery is the King of Battle. However, for the King to retain its throne, indirect fire must be able to penetrate and destroy the enemy’s anti-access and area denial networks at longer ranges, thereby creating windows of opportunity for exploitation by the Army.

The delegates heard about emerging and advanced technologies. The instructors, students and delegates were able to see the latest equipment which has not yet been introduced in service. It is good to have state-of-the-art equipment in the inventory, but the aim should be to acquire indigenous technologies for the equipment that the Army needs today. To that end it was very heartening to learn that no effort was being spared to develop capabilities. What the Ordnance Factories and the private sector was doing, was an eye-opener for the delegates and the instructors who attended.

After many years a number of new systems are being inducted, which were among the best available. Exposing the users to the development process, would help them to appreciate and exploit the equipment much better.

Some excellent work was being carried out by the DRDO on Pinaka, ATAGS and artillery ammunition. The DRDO has come of age and has transitioned from the time they were trying to discover themselves about 30 years ago. Yet, they have to go through hits and misses. But now they have more hits than misses. There was a time when DRDO was happy working in the background and there was a gap between them and the users.

Finally, Napoleon’s aphorism, “God fights on the side with the best artillery” appears as true today as it did almost three centuries ago.

A detailed report on the Seminar will be published in the April 2020 issue.

The post Artillery Technology India 2020 Seminar appeared first on IMR.

Inaugural Session

Welcome Address. Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, Director CENJOWS highlighted the significance of air & missile defence. In the wake of the Balakot strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Pakistan on 26 Feb 2019, a new paradigm had been created, he said, and air defence (AD) in future would have to be ready 24×7. The 14 September 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities by armed drones and cruise missiles had also significantly changed the nature of future wars by opening new domains, which would mandate countermeasures by Air Defence. He emphasized the importance of finding new solutions by the Indian defence industry and R &D community. He reiterated the aim of the seminar which was to bring all stake holders on a common platform for discussing the integration of new technologies, optimizing legacy system and come out with an action plan on the way ahead.

Special Address. Lt Gen PS Rajeshwar, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee highlighted the rapidly changing dimension of air threat and the need for evolving countermeasures to meet the threats in an environment of joint and network centric wars. He stated the need to relook at the Vulnerable Areas/Vulnerable Points, which require protection, work out the right mix of hard and soft kill weapons, based on an accurate threat assessment. While doing so the inter-se cost factor must also be kept in mind. He said that new technologies would have to work in concert with older concepts which would remain relevant but must mesh with new technologies seamlessly.

Theme Address. Lt Gen AP Singh, Director General (DG) Army Air Defence (AAD) described the emerging challenges for AD, which included drones, advanced aircraft, missiles, hypersonic glide vehicles and cyber warfare. He explained that the AD forces would have to counter stand-off attacks as also close strikes by drones, operate in conventional and sub conventional roles, be prepared 24×7, operate in a highly saturated EW environment and network its operations to ensure seamless and instant fusion as well as passage of data. He highlighted the huge opportunities available to all stake holders to come up with solutions for the emerging milieu. He stated that the AAD required sensors, guns and missiles, Lasers and High-Power Microwave (HPM) systems, electric warfare (EW) suites, control and reporting systems, which would have to work in a networked and joint environment. He exhorted all stake holders to create home grown and cost effective solutions to meet the needs of the AAD.

IMR-EY Knowledge Paper on Air Defence. A Knowledge Paper on Air Defence prepared by IMR and Ernst & Young (EY) was released by the guests during the Inaugural Session.

Industry Perspective. Col KV Kuber, Director, (Defence and Aerospace) Ernst & Young gave the industry perspective on the emerging air threats and the new-generation AD systems, which would be required for countering them. He stated that the drone strikes in Saudi Arabia highlighted the asymmetric impact of low cost equipment on the world economy and the need to guard against such threats. He spoke about the ongoing AD programmes, the evolution of high tech equipment manufacturing by the Indian defence industry, the need to hand-hold important projects by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and highlighted the slow pace of procurement cases. He reiterated the need to put in measures to remove the blockages in the procurement process and the importance of cost-to-kill ratio, which should be factored during the development and procurement cycle. He also gave an insight into the growth story of defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian defence industry and the emerging changes in this field.

Session 1 : Contours of Aerial Threat

The session was chaired by Air Mshl BR Krishna, DG Air Operations, Air HQ.

Wg Cdr P Prakash, Wing Commander Air Defence-IV, Air HQ spoke on “Air THreat Manifestation” and included an overview of the evolving facets of air threat and preparedness measures to meet the threats. He highlighted the the importance of counter drone technologies and latest measures being undertaken for capability building.

Col S Rajeev, Colonel Air Defence (Operations) Army AD Directorate, Army HQ, spoke on “Emerging threats from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drones.” He highlighted the latest trends to include swarm drones, MUMT (manned-unmanned teaming), networked and failsafe C&R links. He highlighted the focus areas which include detection and identification means and, thereafter, the weapon assignment which would include both hard and soft kill.

Ranadeep Saha, Deputy General Manager Radar Development, Larsen & Toubro, spoke on “Fire Control Radars in Air Defence Scenario” and highlighted the Radar development programme of L&T and the new technologies which were being incorporated.

Joseph (Yossi) Horowitz of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems spoke on ” M-SHORADS – Protecting Manoeuvring Forces Against Air Threats” bringing out that M-SHORADS were ideal for protecting manoeuvring forces against air threats. He highlighted that MSHORADs were being incorporated by most advanced nations including USA in their concepts and that solution could provide an effective shield against emerging air threats including drones.

Session 2 : Emerging Technologies

The session was chaired by Lt Gen (Dr) VK Saxena, former DG AAD, Army HQ.

Gp Capt AP Deshpande, Gp Capt Air Staff Requirements, Air HQ, spoke on “Developments in Air Munitions and Delivery Systems.” He gave an insight into latest trends and the tech requirements in aircrafts for future wars.

Capt (IN) Robin Chakraborty, Capt SR (Gun), Naval HQ spoke on “Emerging AD Technologies – Naval Systems”. He explained the Naval AD philosophy and the challenges of AD in maritime environment. He highlighted the emerging technologies in naval systems like precision weapons, net enabled munitions, advanced delivery systems, ability to operate in GPS denied environment, etc.

The chairperson highlighted the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in AD systems and gave an insight into other fields of emerging technologies, which will make the AD environment most challenging in times to come.

Second Day

Inaugural Session

Welcome Address. Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, Director CENJOWS recalled the discussions of the previous day and encouraged the delegates to highlight the way ahead for meeting the challenges, both external and internal in the AD domain.

Special Address. Lt Gen Satinder Singh, Commandant Army AD College, gave an insight into the evolution of AD and the challenges posed by use of disruptive technologies by both state and non-state actors. Use of technology had made everyone vulnerable and the need for a responsive 24×7 alert AD system was necessary. He highlighted the necessity to optimize the available resources, use innovations and collaborations with academia and industry to find solutions to the emerging challenges. He spoke on the need to incorporate new technologies like Directed Energy Weapons (DEW), HPMW, Automated C&R system in the Army AD and the requirement to train the AD warriors to be able to exploit them for success in future battlefields.

Session 3 : Integrated Air Defence Battle and Challenges

The session was chaired by Air Vice Mshl Surat Singh, Asst Chief of Air Staff Operations (Space), Air HQ.

Capt (IN) MS Khurana, Director Naval Operations (DNO) spoke on “Air Defence of the Fleet” and discussed the maritime environment, which posed additional challenges for AD. He highlighted that the sea was a medium for all users, a global common and the need, therefore, to have state-of-the-art communications, net-centricity, identification friend or foe (IFF), surveillance and weapons to counter the emerging air threats.

Brig V Mahajan, Commander 786 (I) AD Brigade, spoke on “Concept of AD Electronic Warfare Operations.” He spoke about the need to make EW an offensive arm of the AD plan. He highlighted that with the emerging drone and UAV threats this would yield cost-effective solutions in countering the air threat. He gave an overview of the EW systems and their employment for active AD protection along with the other existing systems.

Session 4 : Self Reliance in

Air Defence

The session was chaired by Maj Gen SP Goswami, Addl DG Army AD, Army HQ.

Col GL Sharma, Colonel AD (SRSAM/ MRSAM), AAD Directorate, spoke on “Self Reliance in Defence Production – Can India Achieve It?”. He highlighted the various challenges which existed in our current procurement system and compared the best practices of other nations. He proposed changes in the Defence Procurement procedure (DPP) and policy issues which would assist in streamlining the system.

Dr Amit Kumar from Advanced Systems Laboratory, DRDO, spoke on “Latest Developments in Missile Defence Systems.” He highlighted the extensive use of advanced technologies and the development of the Indian ballistic missile defence (BMD) system over the years.

Closing Session

Special Addesss. Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Chairman DRDO and Secretary Department of Defence R&D gave a special address and highlighted the complex air threat environment, which was emerging. The use of advanced technologies like hypersonic glide vehicles, UAVs/ drones, sixth-gen aircraft, advanced missiles with long ranges, use of AI and advent of autonomous systems would pose immense challenges in securing the skies in future, he said. He highlighted the future requirements in AD systems, which would include Radar systems capable of detecting such threats, Laser and HPMW systems, BMD systems, failsafe communications and networked systems for real time 24×7 actions. He also gave an insight into the indigenous AD programmes, which were ongoing and those planned in the future to meet those challenges.

Closing Address.  Maj Gen Ravi Arora gave the Vote of Thanks and thanked all the delegates and participants for their presence on the two days and invigorating discussions.

================

Summary of Recommendations

The seminar provided an opportunity to all the stake holders to discuss the relevant issues pertaining to Air and Missile Defence. A number of important and relevant issues emerged which will indicate the way forward in providing secure Air Defence to the country. These are summarized as follows:-

•             Air threats emerging as a result of complex systems and advanced technologies, used in conjunction with drones and armed UAVs by both state and non-state actors were creating challenge which are both outward and inward looking. Longer ranges of aircraft and munitions as well as shorter ranges and sizes of drones require evolving effective systems and structures to meet these threats.

•             Drones and UAVs have changed the dimension of air threat as demonstrated in the attacks in Saudi Arabia. Drones mitigation will need Point Defence at various VAs/VPs across the country and both hard and soft kill options need to be factored in. India also needs to put in place a comprehensive drone policy along with criminal and legal aspects covering all issues of dereliction.

•             Drones and UAVs mitigation will involve Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and other central and state organisations. There is a pressing need to create a common forum where all stake holders can resolve issues. SOPs for detection, identification and bringing down these threats especially in the hinterland need to be put in place. Seamless communication between all agencies, C&R, and common protocols and procedures is the need of the hour.

•             The training of CAPFs, Army AD and IAF AD elements should be done together so that the issues highlighted above can be resolved. Army AD College can be nominated as the nodal training centre for all CAPFs for this aspect.

•             The Indian defence industry, DRDO and DPSUs need to invest in R&D for developing niche technologies for our future needs. Imports need to be reduced and indigenous cost effective solutions found to meet our future requirements.

•             Defence procurement needs to be simplified and bottlenecks identified and removed in order to ensure timely procurement. Hand-holding can be carried out if required to promote indigenous manufacture. Services should plan incubators to encourage R&D catering to their specific needs. Lateral move of domain experts from Services to DRDO, academia and industry should be encouraged for specific projects.

=================

Dr G Sathesh Reddy, DG DRDO and Secretary Dept of Defence Research

Lt Gen AP Singh, Director General Army Air Defence

Lt Gen PS Rajeshwar Chief of Integrated Staff to COSC

Lt Gen Satinder Singh Commandant Army Air Defence College

Air Mshl BR Krishna Director General Air Operations

Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia Director CENJOWS

Speakers from left Dr Amit Kumar from Advanced Systems Laboratory, DRDO, Maj Gen Ravi Arora, Chief Editor IMR, Maj Gen SP Goswami, Addl DG Army Air Defence and Col GL Sharma, Col AD (SRSAM/ MRSAM), AAD Directorate

Speakers from left, Capt (IN) MS Khurana, Director Naval Operations, Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, Director CENJOWS, Air Vice Marshal Surat Singh, ACAS Operations (Space) and Brig V Mahajan, Commander 786 (I) Air Defence Brigade.

Air Vice Mshl Surat Singh ACAS Operations (Space)

Joseph ‘Yossi’ Horowitz Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

Ranadeep Saha, Deputy GM Radar Development, L&T

Capt (IN) Robin Chakravorty Capt SR (Gun), Naval HQ

Gp Capt AP Deshpande Gp Capt Air Staff Requirements

Capt (IN) MS Khurana, Director Naval Operations

Col S Rajeev, Colonel Air Defence (Operations) Army AD Directorate

Col KV Kuber, Director Defence & Aerospace, Ernst & Young

The post Event Review : Air & Missile Defence India 2019 appeared first on IMR.