Need to extend surveillance envelope: Air Marshal Dixit

New Delhi: Modern warfare has "fundamentally altered" the relationship between distance and vulnerability, and there is a need to "extend our surveillance envelope" to detect potential threats much before they approach the border, a top military officer said on Wednesday.

In his address at an event held at Subroto Park, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit also asserted that Operation Sindoor demonstrated that indigenous innovation, when properly harnessed, can "match and even exceed" international benchmarks.

The domain of surveillance and EO (electro-optics) system has evolved. It was a "force enhancer", now it is slowly becoming a foundation upon which modern military operations will take place, he said.

"I have witnessed this transformation first-hand throughout my career. And, today, we stand at a cusp of a revolution that will define how we perceive, process and project power, in the 21st century," Air Marshal Dixit said.

He emphasised that the recent months have provided "compelling evidence" of the same.

In his address, he laid stress on the critical importance of "deep surveillance" in contemporary warfare.

The lessons of Operation Sindoor, what military strategist have perhaps not fully appreciated until now is that "modern warfare thanks to technology has fundamentally altered the relationship between distance and vulnerability," the officer said.

It has given a new meaning to simultaneity and non-linearity. Earlier, the horizon marked the limit of immediate threat. Today, precision-guided munitions, like SCALP, BrahMos, etc, have "rendered geographical barriers almost meaningless", as strikes with air-to-air missiles and supersonic air-to-ground missiles have become commonplace, he said.

India used long-range weapon systems and platforms to strike deep within the Pakistan territory to destroy terror infrastructure during Operation Sindoor.

Air Marshal Dixit said when weapons can strike targets hundreds of kilometres away with pin-point accuracy, "the traditional concepts of front, rear, and flanks, combat zones, depth areas, all become irrelevant. What we call the front and the theatre, merge into one".

He emphasised that this "new reality" demands that "we extend our surveillance envelope far beyond what previous generations could have even imagined".

"We must detect, identify and track potential threats not when they approach our border, but when they are still in their staging areas, airfields, bases and deep within their own territory," the top officer said.

This existed as a concept earlier, but today "we have the means" to realise it, he added.

Compressed timelines of modern warfare, amplify this need.

"When hypersonic missiles can traverse hundreds of kilometres in mere minutes and drone swarms can reach their targets before traditional decision-making processes can respond, real-time or near real-time surveillance becomes not just advantageous but essentially for surviving," he said.

The speed of modern weapons has fundamentally altered the OODA (observing, orienting, deciding, acting) loop, compressing it from hours to minutes, and sometimes even seconds, the officer said.

This new reality is being shaped by small satellite constellations that are revolutionising battlefield awareness. The fusion of electro-optical, and other capabilities now enable a "24x7 dynamic persistence and predictive mosaic" of the battlefield.

"We no longer merely observe, we anticipate, predict and pre-empt," he said.

The precision that defines modern weapon systems, however, comes with its own challenges, the officer cautioned.

"While it offers an unprecedented capability to strike with minimal collateral damage, it also demands intelligence in equal precision. Outdated or inaccurate data doesn't merely reduce effectiveness, it can lead to mission failures, unintended casualties and strategic setbacks that reverberate far beyond the immediate battlefield," he said.

In his address, he also referred to China's military space programme, which he said has expanded from "operating just 36 satellites in 2010 to over a thousand by 2024, with more than 360 dedicated to ISR missions".

ISR refers to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

"As we contemplate our own surveillance capabilities, we must understand the rapidly evolving threat landscape, particularly the remarkable advances made by our neighbours to the north," he said.

The officer said Chinese satellites have recently demonstrated "sophisticated dog-fighting manoeuvres" in lower earth orbits.

"They have evolved from a kill chain to a kill mesh, an integrated network that seamlessly interweaves ISR satellites with weapon systems," he added.

The top officer also cited cases of conflicts that have occurred in the recent years, from Armenia-Ajerbaijan conflict to Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas, and Indian's own experience in the recent Operation Sindoor.

"What truth emerges with crystal clarity, the side that sees first, sees farthest, and sees most accurately prevails," he underlined.

This axiom has guided military thinking for centuries and has has become even relevant in the current precision warfare and multi-domain operations, the officer said.

The tri-Services officer was speaking at a seminar on 'Surveillance and Electro-optics' hosted by think-tank CAPS (Centre for Air Power Studies) and Indian Military Reviews (IMR).