SINO -INDIAN TECHNOLOGY EQUATION

LT COL MANOJ K CHANNAN, VETERAN

 

The world is witnessing a dynamic and fluid environment ever since the Wuhan Virus broke out in December 2019, the power struggle between the US and China are well documented and off late the Russian stand on Ukraine and its relationships with its immediate neighbour China and as India’s neighbour Pakistan reaching out to Ukraine as well as reach out to Russia, to support it in the UN.

Closer to home the Chinese intrusions have been stalled by a strong response by the Indian Defence Forces and the Indian Army in particular which not only negated and gave a strong response along the line of actual control, including Galwan. The occupation of the Kailash Range put the PLA at a major disadvantage and exposed Moldo Garrison which came under direct line of sight and thus exposing the vulnerabilities of the PLA.

If one is to sit back and think that this gives India an edge, which will vary in areas of eye-to-eye contact.

Large scale conventional operations capability as well as capacity building stagnated under the mindset, of Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terror operations. The PLA intrusions as in 1962 have jolted the political, military and bureaucracy leadership out of its deep slumber.

Some tenets that need to be visited are being listed below for India to consider.

Commerce

Since the intrusions began by the PLA, India did take some cosmetic actions of banning Chinese mobile apps, however, Indian Manufacturing is highly dependent on the raw materials. Chinese companies have been delaying the supply chain and have changed the terms and conditions of the supply with imposed delays as well as a financial cost of hundred percent upfront.

 

 

Cyber Warfare/Security

China has a three-decade lead over India in its capabilities in offensive and defensive capacities to cause mayhem. The power breakdown at Mumbai was identified by US sources as a China based cyber-attack, though own CERT agency denied it as a breakdown under natural circumstances.

This morning Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT)  is not accepting vessels alongside due to outage of the system. A suspected cyber-attack of the management information system (MIS) has crippled the container terminal run by the state-owned port authority at Jawaharlal Nehru Port from Monday, forcing the Jawaharlal Nehru Container Terminal (JNPCT) to divert one container ship to other terminals at the port located near Mumbai.

5G Technology

The Chinese are actively deploying 5G technology along the Iine of actual control. India is still to roll out 5G technology and has limited capability in terms of a test laboratory which is only available at IIT Chennai.

Big Data

Big Data is defined simply as large and voluminous complex data sets, arriving from new data sources that traditional data processing software cannot manage. In counter terrorism context, big data refers to the enormous amount of unstructured, unfiltered and raw data that law enforcement and intelligence agencies require to mine for information to prevent future attacks.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

The buzz words of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are often heard at Seminars and talks delivered by Military leaders, it is still a long way to go, as technology adaptation has been delayed, as the focus has been on Counter Insurgency / Counter Terror operations that the Indian Army has been engaged in since October 1987, till date.

 

 

 

Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle

An India-Russia joint venture, the BrahMos is considered the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile, which can fly at a speed of Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound. India has inducted this weapon for use on tri-services platforms.

Like the rest of the superpowers, India too has now joined the race to develop hypersonic weapons. The country has developed a hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV) and tested a Mach 6 scramjet in June 2019 and in September 2020.

The HSTDV had been developed by India’s Defence Research and Developmental Organisation (DRDO). According to experts, this test-firing was related to the making of the BrahMos II hypersonic missile. This new missile is likely to complement the Indian Navy’s existing BrahMos anti-ship missile.

Hypersonic Cruise Missiles

 

·             3M22 Zircon – Hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile by Russia.

·             14-X – hypersonic glide vehicle mounted on a VSB-30 rocket by Brazil.

·             BrahMos-II – Hypersonic missile by India and Russia.

·             Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle – Hypersonic scramjet demonstration by India.

·             High-Speed Strike Weapon – Boeing X-51 based missile by the United States.

·             Kh-90 – Hypersonic air-to-surface cruise missile. Developed in 1990 by the Soviet Union/ Russia.

·             DF-ZF – DF-17 mounted hypersonic glide vehicle by China.

 

Swarm Drone Capabilities

NewSpace Research & Technologies, which has won at least two contracts from the defence ministry in the last year, specialises in swarm drone systems and is working on an ambitious project with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to develop a cutting-edge pseudo satellite for surveillance and communications.

In September last year, the Army had placed a Rs 200 crore order on the company to deliver a swarm drone system that will be capable of surveillance and attack missions. Processed under the emergency purchases route, the system has to be delivered by the manufacturer within a year.

Loitering Precision Guided Munitions

General Atomics USA has been in negotiations with the Government of India, the supply of these highly versatile drones for precision targeting of hostile elements. Under the current Make in India initiative, it is pertinent that the Government of India engage with SMSEs and support them after due diligence on their core competencies.

Conventional Arms Capabilities

The PLA with its larger industrial capabilities and surplus funds available has been able to plan and match its growth over the past few decades. India has been caught in its Gun vs Butter debate, lack of political will and vision and as on date lack of recruitment as the basic boots on ground, highly negate the military capability. Election rhetoric and lack of statesman leadership with weak leadership at all levels do not indicate any resolutions in the near future.

To sum up, it is never too late; all it takes is a planned approach and correct goal and expectation setting. Technology is ever evolving and the biggest challenges are the political and bureaucracy with endless trip wires of red tapeism, budget allocation and announcements for supporting indigenous development get lost out on lack of domain knowledge, lack of decision making, followed by re-appropriation of the budgets which meet political expediency are the root cause of being for ever static, best described by Newton's first law of motion which states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless an external force acts upon it. Similarly, if the object is at rest, it will remain at rest unless an unbalanced force act upon it. Newton's First Law of Motion is also known as the Law of Inertia.