Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 4

Army Chief Gen MM Naravane on Wednesday said the Army was looking at lasers and directed energy weapons for possible military use.

He was speaking at an international seminar on “Changing characteristics of land warfare and its impact on the military” organised by Army-backed think-tank Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).

The Army Chief said the force was embracing technologies and inducting them with speed into units. “The leveraging of emerging, disruptive domains is also receiving our concerted attention. Capacities in space, cyber and electronic warfare, similarly, are being given a boost,” Gen Naravane said.

Apart from strengthening conventional prowess, the Army was focusing on dynamic response — that would mean actions below the threshold of an all-out war — and plans and capacities are being refined along the Line of Control with Pakistan and Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“We are developing kinetic and non-kinetic responses to address the threat. Technology is also tipping doctrinal cycles. Doctrines are now chasing technologies. We are also looking at tapping ‘block chain technologies’ (these allow digital information to be distributed, but not copied),” the Army Chief added.

Rapidly evolving, dual-use technologies present new opportunities and are changing the character of warfare. Armies, have to be extremely agile to the scale and pace of change.

No change in nuclear policy

New Delhi: Months after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he didn’t know what would happen in future with regard to nuclear “no first use” policy, the government on Wednesday said in Parliament, “There has been no change in India’s N-doctrine.” TNS