Space assets in LEO have taken combat to a new high: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Space assets have transformed military intelligence and communication taking the combat to a new high, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, besides noting the critical roles played by drones in modern warfare, which is increasingly becoming hybrid in nature.

“Space capacities in the Low Earth Orbit are transforming military intelligence, persistent surveillance, positioning, targeting and communications, thus taking combat to a new high,” Singh said at the convocation ceremony of the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington.

The minister’s comments come days after Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said India would come out with a military space doctrine in the next 2-3 months and a military space policy was being prepared.

Space being the ultimate high-ground, countries like China have been developing not only anti-satellite missiles but also other weapons to deny access to space. India too carried out its own anti-satellite test, but 12 years after the Chinese did it in 2007.

But in recent years, India has initiated reforms like formation of Defence Space Agency for military options and New Space India Limited that allows private-public partnership in building satellites and rockets. Out of the 52 satellites to be built under the space-based surveillance (SBS-3) programme, 31 will be made by the private sector.

At the just concluded Commanders Conference, the Indian Navy too has released its Space Vision 2025-2040 that outlines the framework and roadmap over the next 15 years for utilisation of the full spectrum of the space based capabilities, in support of naval Operations.

On the expanding use of drones, Rajnath said, “In the Ukraine-Russia conflict, drones have virtually emerged as a new arm, if not a transformative science. The majority of losses of soldiers and equipment have been attributed neither to traditional artillery nor to armour but to drones.”

Addressing the officers at DSSC, he noted that the world was in the age of grey zone and hybrid warfare where cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns, and economic warfare became tools to achieve politico-military aims without firing a single shot.

He said India faced persistent threats along its borders, which were further compounded by the challenge of proxy war and terrorism emanating from its neighbourhood.