JOIN USIndia should be ready for space war: IAF Chief V R Chaudhari
A race to weaponise the space has already started and the day is not far when the next war would spread across all domains of land, sea, air, cyber and space, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said here on Tuesday, describing the space as the “ultimate high ground.”
Emphasising the need to have both “offensive” and “defensive” capabilities in space to safeguard Indian assets, the IAF chief said the private sector must be encouraged to develop “dual use” technologies in the space sector.
This comes four years after India conducted its maiden anti-satellite test using a ballistic missile following which the Centre said New Delhi was against “weaponisation of outer space” and “no intention of entering into an arms race in outer space.” The Indian test took place 12 years after the Chinese anti-satellite test in 2007.
“The race to weaponise space has already started and the day is not far when our next war will spread across all domains of land, sea, air, cyber and space. There is a need to develop both offensive and defensive space capabilities to safeguard our assets. We need to capitalize on our initial successes in space and prepare ourselves for the future,” he said addressing a conference.
The IAF chief cited examples of Indian startups like Pixxel which intended to make nano-satellites for a constellation and Skyroot, which make rockets to launch such satellites. He also spoke about the use of satellite technology by Ukraine during the ongoing campaign against Russia.
“It is pertinent that we develop such technology in-house. We can envision indigenous space technology capabilities and affordable access to space for a range of applications in the near future. However, we must be cognitive of the technology to be within the contours of national policy, security and objectives,” he said.
“With 'on-demand launch' becoming the new normal and growing exploitation of it by private and military stakeholders, space has definitely become the ultimate high ground.”
Projecting the future on weapons in 2047 when India turns 100, Air Marshal Chaudhari said defence companies would have to work on futuristic weapons like directed energy weapons (high energy laser-based weapons) and hypersonic weapons that would have significant advantages over existing ones in terms of precision, cost, logistical benefits and low detectability, providing a bucket-list to the industry.
“Our defence industries need to further the development of these weapons and also integrate them onto airborne platforms to get desired ranges and accuracy,” he said.
Defence Research and Development Organisation and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre have been working on direct energy weapons for a long time, but it is not known if any such technology has come anywhere close to the reality.
“Path breaking technologies like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous systems and battle field of thing are knocking at the doors of defence production. The application of these technologies in the aerospace industry has the potential to entirely transform the way wars will be fought,” he noted.