A thermal blip lights up the multispectral sensor grid. It’s a contact with a hostile platform. Within microseconds, heat signature, turret profile, radar cross-section, mobility pattern, electromagnetic emissions, and acoustic footprint are discerned. These are fed into a high-tech intelligence fusion system powered by AI. A large language model sifts through millions of defence datasets. Attributes are matched. Identity is confirmed. It is ‘Type 09A self-propelled artillery’, Chinese-origin.
The AI continues. Satellites, drones, and radars lurking in the vicinity are automatically redirected to lock eyes on the target. Millions of engagement possibilities are generated and evaluated. Three best strike options pop up for the commander. Option 2 suggests the use of a loitering munition already circling overhead. The commander approves. Target engaged. Smoke rises.
A micro-drone lurking in the vicinity dives to carry out post-strike damage assessment. The gun is gone, but the undercarriage twitches. The AI dispatches a second, lighter payload. Target engaged and eliminated. This is not science fiction but reality today.
Situational Awareness in an Information-Saturated Battlefield
On today’s battlefield, information flows in torrents, from satellites, drones, sensors, intercepts, and social media. It arrives in structured formats like battlefield reports and GPS feeds. Voice or text from intercepted communications is in unstructured format. Each of these have a context. Updates such as weather, morale, or terrain status are critical. Moreover, all these are in different formats like images, videos, thermal snapshots, multispectral imagery, and real-time drone footage. The diversity and volume are far beyond the ability of human minds to deconstruct manually.
This is where AI steps in again. It fuses live feeds with historical knowledge. Petabytes of combat data stored in the cloud are processed through machine learning, deep learning, and interpreted by neural networks. Quantum computation compares millions of scenarios. Patterns are identified. Threats are flagged. Every anomaly is cross-verified. The clutter becomes clarity. AI sees the whole picture, faster, clearer, and sooner than any human ever could.
All of the above has been on display to the world. In Ukraine, GIS Arta transforms dispersed intelligence into coordinated strikes within minutes. In China, platforms by Hikvision and iFlytek feed real-time battlefield imagery into PLA command systems to keep war zones under constant watch.
AI-Enabled Drone Warfare
Globally, Ukraine has become the crucible of AI-powered warfare. Its First Person View (FPV) drones can identify, lock onto, and destroy Russian armour at will. Loitering munitions like the Liutyi use visual recognition to stay on course even when all communication is lost. AI has turned drones into thinking, hunting machines.
Israel, too, has fielded drone swarms in Gaza and southern Lebanon to scout, share data, and strike with machine-coordinated precision.
India’s Operation Sindoor marked its decisive entry into this battlefield reality. Suicide drones, guided by the indigenous NavIC navigation system and coordinated by AI-driven command networks, struck with surgical precision. They navigated mountainous terrain, adapted to electronic jamming, and possibly recalibrated targets mid-mission based on live surveillance feeds. No pilots. No second chances. Just lethal autonomy in action.
AI in Military Logistics and Maintenance
The old adage, “an army marches on its belly,” has changed today to “it marches on data”. AI, enriched by real-time inputs, reroutes supplies under fire, forecasts resource consumption, and predicts equipment failures before they happen. It ensures that no frontline runs dry. The U.S. Air Force saves millions by using AI to forecast aircraft maintenance, preventing costly downtime and improving fleet readiness.
AI in Cyber and Information Warfare
AI is redefining cyber warfare as both shield and sword. It defends military networks by detecting anomalies, responding to intrusions, and mitigating threats in real time. Offensively, AI creates adaptive malware and launches intelligent intrusions that exploit vulnerabilities faster than human hackers can react.
Iran’s AI-powered cyber campaigns against Israel, and China’s Strategic Support Force using machine learning to counter attacks and identifying weak points in adversary networks, illustrate this evolving dual role.
Beyond digital infrastructure, AI is also transforming psychological warfare. Algorithms now analyze online behavior, map sentiment patterns, and craft targeted propaganda to influence decision-making thus blurring the lines between kinetic action and information operations.
Ethical Dilemmas and Global Ambiguities
As AI assumes responsibility for life-and-death decisions, moral challenges deepen. Even advanced systems struggle to distinguish a child with a toy gun from a soldier with a rifle. In complex environments, false positives can be catastrophic.
Why This Matters to You
Operation Sindoor proved a vital truth. The indigenous systems like the Akash and NavIC survived and outperformed others on the battlefield. In the face of jamming, pressure, and real-time combat uncertainty, foreign platforms fall short. Therefore there is strong reason for India to build its own AI-driven battle management systems, designed, trained, and tested on Indian doctrine, equipment, and strategic realities.
This demands a national effort. Veterans bring operational insight. Academicians provide structure and vision. India’s technologists and engineering students must turn that into code. Imported intelligence won’t win Indian wars. Only AI that speaks our military language will.
Conclusion
AI is not just another emerging technology. It is a paradigm shift. It collapses decision timelines, expands operational reach, and compresses the kill chain. Nations that master its application will shape the future of warfare. Those who delay will be tactically outpaced and strategically outflanked.
The battlefield is no longer human versus human. It is algorithm versus algorithm. India must ensure its code defines victory, not its absence.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of ETV Bharat)
