'Take secrecy veil off electronic warfare'

 The public at large should not be kept in the dark about the aspects and implications of electr­o­nic and informational warfare, as is the trend.

Instead, they should be educated about it, said Air Marshall M Mathehswaran, Deputy Chief Integrated Defence Staff (Force Development, Perspective Planning).

Speaking at the third international conference on electronic warfare here on Tuesday, he said, “the problem is that users are kept in the dark with security being the emphasis. This has a negative impact and many have superficial knowledge. There is a need to educate people on the linkages of various operations.”

Mathehswaran highlighted that a lot of learning, teaching and building awareness was still needed especially among the students.

“Engineering students studying electronics and aerospace, for example, will get a chance to know about the linkages by attending such seminars. There is a need to interact with more universities on the issue,” he said. He opined that universities and institutes have not plugged this gap of knowledge and awareness in the sector.

Mathehswaran highlighted the need for more private players to “boost” developments in the sector and the need to build more indigenous capabilities.

“There are still problems with production and we are still dependent on others for hardware. There are still a lot of requirements. Critical hardware and algorithms are something that need to come from within the country. We need to push the industry to make investments in such areas,” Mathehswaran said.

S K Sharma, chairman and managing director of Bharath Electronics Limited, highlighted the requirement for stealth capabilities, security databases and to bring in the private sector to help fulfil these needs.

Indigenous technologies

“We need to improve indigenous technologies in collaboration with the private sector and micro, small and medium enterprises in various aspects like prototyping,” said Sharma.