Warfare has long been shaped by technologies that shorten the interval between observation and action. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is curtailing that interval further, but their significance depends as much on trustworthy data, joint institutions and domestic industry as on algorithms.
The progression from industrial-age mass to precision weapons and network-centric battlefield has made information central to military advantage. AI adds the capacity to examine large volumes of information and flag patterns for human assessment. There are primarily three ways AI changes the character of war. First, it elevates the status of data from just a source of information to an instrument of power. Secondly, it changes the economics of mass, by giving an edge to the one who can field larger number of AI-assisted systems at a relatively cheaper cost. Lastly, it relocates the role of humans from analysing data to taking decisions.
This transformation is best understood through the OODA loop: Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. AI can accelerate observation through sensor fusion, assist orientation through pattern recognition, support decision-making through predictive analytics and enable faster action through automated and integrated systems. The objective is not replacing military judgement but delivering reliable and timely decision advantage.
At the strategic level, AI is reshaping cyber security, protection of critical infrastructure and national industrial capacity. The experience of Ukraine has demonstrated that cyber-attacks, information campaigns and kinetic operations increasingly occur simultaneously. Countries, therefore, require resilient data networks, secure digital infrastructure and robust cyber-defence capabilities.
{{/usCountry}}At the strategic level, AI is reshaping cyber security, protection of critical infrastructure and national industrial capacity. The experience of Ukraine has demonstrated that cyber-attacks, information campaigns and kinetic operations increasingly occur simultaneously. Countries, therefore, require resilient data networks, secure digital infrastructure and robust cyber-defence capabilities.
{{/usCountry}}At the operational level, AI is transforming command and control (C2). Advanced decision-support systems can integrate inputs from land, air, maritime, cyber and space domains into a common operational picture (COP). For India, this aligns closely with ongoing reforms focused on jointness, integrated theatre commands and multi-domain exercises.
At the tactical level, autonomous and semi-autonomous systems are changing battlefield dynamics. Drone swarms, loitering munitions and AI-enabled reconnaissance systems are increasing the speed and scale at which military forces can operate. The growing use of autonomous capabilities in Ukraine illustrates how AI is increasingly embedded across the sensor-to-shooter kill chain.
For four days in May, last year, India was engaged in a conflict that looked a lot different from the ones that it had trained for and fought earlier. The Indian Army’s Akashteer, a fully indigenous, automated Air Defence Control and Reporting System, played a significant role in Operation Sindoor. As per a press release by the ministry of information & broadcasting, Akashteer had intercepted and neutralised every inbound projectile, and successfully defended the Indian airspace on May 9 and 10.
Operation Sindoor offered a glimpse of the battlefield capabilities that India’s defence ecosystem must now aspire to build at scale. It also sharpened the questions the nation has long posed to its defence establishment about preparedness, integration, technological self-reliance, and future warfighting readiness: Are we building the ability to understand and adapt with evolving battlefield? Are we building at the pace, and in the shape that matches tomorrow’s battlefield demands?
The answer, as evident in the last couple of years, is encouraging but incomplete.
AI-related projects are being developed through DRDO, DPSUs, startups and private industry. In 2022, the launch of 75 AI-enabled defence products at India’s first AI in Defence symposium highlighted the breadth of ongoing efforts across surveillance, logistics, cybersecurity, and autonomous systems. The IndiaAI Mission has since invested ₹10,372 crore on affordable compute and a startup ecosystem. Additionally, the AIKosh data repository held more than 7,500 datasets and 273 models as of February 2026.
In line with their vision of technological advancement by enhancing operational readiness, Indian armed forces have also established research centres specifically focusing on the development of AI for their use cases. The IAF Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence under the aegis of UDAAN (Unit for Digitisation, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Application Networking) was inaugurated in 2022. This was followed by the establishment of the Indian Navy Incubation Centre for Artificial Intelligence (INICAI) and the Indian Army AI Incubation Centre (IAAIIC), supported through collaboration with the broader defence technology ecosystem.
In a battlefield, outcomes are increasingly being decided by algorithms and not just armour. It becomes even more pertinent for an Agrasar Bharat to make the right move across AI, indigenous manufacturing and procurement reforms parallelly.
The rise of AI poses unforeseen risks. Military AI systems can inherit data biases, generate incorrect outputs, be vulnerable to cyber compromise and may have questionable accountability. Furthermore, diversification of data sources becomes imperative to minimise the injection of stale or error-infected data and increase reliability. The challenge for policymakers is to establish governance frameworks that encourage innovation while ensuring transparency, human supervision and compliance with international and domestic law.
The future battlefield will reward countries capable of combining technological innovation, industrial resilience, military integration and strategic vision.
For India, success will depend on building sovereign AI capabilities that support defence modernisation, strengthen indigenous manufacturing and preserve strategic autonomy. Seamless AI-integration into the defence ecosystem from data collection to delivering results will play a pivotal role. Therefore, military AI stack needs to be formalised for interoperability within the defence ecosystem.
Military AI is at a relatively nascent stage of development across the globe. Successful establishment of a definitive or uncontested model for AI-powered warfare is still under progress. Major powers are testing the evolving technologies, operational concepts and governance frameworks. For India, this offers a unique window of opportunity to embed military AI factors into capability building, acquisition processes, and strategic doctrine from the outset. The objective is not merely to adopt AI, but to shape its use in a manner consistent with India’s security requirements and long-term national interests.
Traditional measures of military power need to increasingly be complemented by new determinants of advantage: The ability to adapt rapidly, deploy affordable mass, operate effectively across multiple domains and integrate unmanned systems, AI, electronic warfare and space-enabled capabilities into a unified operational architecture.
India does not lack intent, ambition, capital or talent for this shift. What it most definitely needs is sustained investment in the research and development of military AI; synchronisation between the armed forces that operate these systems, the research laboratories and manufacturers that build them, and the acquisition machinery that must procure them at the speed of relevance.
That coordination is Agrasar Bharat’s need of the hour.
(The views expressed are personal)
This article is authored by Gaurav Mehndiratta, partner and leader, Aerospace and Defence, and Himanshu Suryavanshi, associate partner, Aerospace, Defence, Shipbuilding & Space, KPMG, India.