Research > Formation
of Horizon Core Technology
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FORMATION OF HORIZON CORE TECHNOLOGY (HCT)
GROUP AT HQ IDS
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1.
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Technology is a continuum, so is the
concept of warfare and the ever profound capabilities to |
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wage war. The last millennium
has witnessed a revolutionary ingress of 'Technology' into the
Defence Weapon systems with telling efforts sharpening the cutting
edge of the fighting forces. The Defence Analysts the world
over hold the view that the way the wars are fought will change
much more over the next two decades than it did in the last
century. This is because the pace of technology and technological
changes are a lot faster now than ever before. Over the years,
there have been continuous improvements in the underlying technologies.
Tanks, rifles, aircrafts and ships, steadily evolved from one
generation to the next; some times they have grown larger, sometimes
smaller, but always more capable. |
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2.
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Invention and Research in technology
leads to new weapons or better and more efficient ways to |
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wage war. A case in point
is the 1991 Gulf War that epitomizes the recent revolution in
military technology, wherein the US led coalition forces waged
a total war against Saddam's forces in Iraq, using a plethora
of platforms. Besides the unending stream of air strikes, Precision
Guided Munitions (PGM) and the missile attacks, the silent but
the deadly Electronic Warfare was unleashed in various forms.
The end effect was that the Iraqi command and control network
and their air defence systems were totally paralysed in the
first 24 hours of the war; and a major component of military
formation operating between Baghdad and Kuwait were considerably
marginalized ever before coalition the land forces got launched.
The aftermath of this war has ushered in dramatic developments
in surveillance and target acquisition, PGM, digital communication
and smart weaponry technologies, leading to an environment where
everything that can be seen, can be hit and everything that
can be hit, can be destroyed. |
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3. |
Induction of high technology in the
Defence Weapon systems has imparted capabilities of a |
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magnitude that has turned
the new era into an era of convergence connectivity and networking
in a web of immense complexity and interdependency. This technology
evolution and its impact on Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA)
on the conduct of war in the Indian context ought to lead us
to the 'Technologies of the Future' that are to play a major
and involved role in the profile and capabilities of the futuristic
Defence Weapon systems. |
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RMA |
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4. |
The notion of a 'military technical
revolution' or RMA has become endemic in the literature of |
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defence analysts. There
have been three such revolutions in the twentieth century, which
have fundamentally altered military conflicts. In the period
between 1917 and 1939, internal combustion engines, armoured
vehicles, improved aircraft designs, radio and radar were harnessed
in new operational concepts and organisational structures to
produce the blitzkrieg, carrier warfare at sea, and strategic
aerial bombardment. A second revolution in the 1950s was brought
by about the incorporation of nuclear weapons, development of
jet aircraft, ballistic missiles, and advances in electronics.
The third revolution began in the 1970s and 80s with the application
of cruise missiles to theatre warfare, the use of satellites
for reconnaissance, communication and global positioning information,
stealth aircraft and PGMs. |
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5. |
The revolution in military affairs
culminated in the Gulf War of 1991 where the enormous potential
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of the integration of
weapons systems with information networks began to be realised.
The current or pending RMA is predicted largely on the exploitation
of new information technologies that promise an unprecedented
degree of detailed and near-instantaneous data on battlefield
conditions, along with the ability to coordinate and execute
battle plans with extraordinary precision and lethality. And
just over the horizon, is yet another revolution based on advances
in biotechnology. |
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6. |
These critical advances in acquiring
of military capabilities create an enormous impact on all Armed
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Forces. While instances
of inter - state wars may have reduced, there has been no let
up in conflicts and this trend is not likely to diminish or
fade away. It is important, therefore, that our Armed Forces
remain in pace with the state-of-art emerging technologies,
keeping in view our threat perception(s), to maintain an edge
over our potential adversaries by developing conventional, non-conventional
and strategic deterrence capability. |
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Future
Battlefield Milieue |
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7.
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The Defence Analysts are of a conviction that the
world security environment of the future is likely |
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to be influenced by factors
such as the emerging new world order, impact of globalisation,
increasing economic inter-dependence and militarisation of space.
However, the greatest influence by far would be of technology,
characterised by enhanced military capabilities due to the coming
of the information age, RMA and the nuclear environment. This
calls for sustenance of modern and high quality Armed Forces
supported by a strong scientific, technological and industrial
base. In order to create a stable security environment, we need
to build upon our military capability by exploiting the current
and futuristic technologies. |
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8.
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Technology Planning.
To achieve and sustain technological superiority in Weapon Systems
over |
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our potential
adversaries we need mechanisms to aim for sound technological
planning and forecast of technologies. This planning is a combination
of Service Plans for modernisation, new acquisitions and upgrades
on the one hand and R & D plans based on its core competencies
and the requirement of technological thrust areas determined
by defence priorities, on the other. To achieve this objective,
we need to identify the short, medium and long-term technologies
that are essential to be imbibed in a time bound manner. Broadly,
these technologies relate to the following time domain: - |
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Short Term Technologies.
To achieve and sustain technological superiority in Weapon |
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Systems
Those technologies that are taking off from the drawing board
and are in the process of development. |
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Medium Term Technologies. Those
technologies that are getting on to the drawing board and are
likely to be developed in a 10 - 15 yrs timeframe. |
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Horizon or Long Term Technologies.
The core technologies that the Services would essentially need
in 15 - 25 yrs time frame. These could also be termed as 'Beyond
the Horizon Technologies' and need to be conceptualised now
since these technologies are expected to have a profound effect
on futuristic weapons and warfare. |
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9.
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Technological and Industrial
Base. To achieve and sustain technological
superiority in Weapon |
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Systems
over Over the last 50 years, defence R&D has established
a technological base and some core competencies, thus making
significant contributions in the strategic sector. Along with
defence R&D, a large network of Ordnance Factories, Defence
Public Sector Undertakings, the private sector and academic
institutions have contributed in establishing a Defence Technological
Industrial Base. Thus, India has a formidable infrastructure,
which needs to be synergised to ensure that 'Technologies' relevant
to our country's defence are holistically examined for development
through an all-inclusive approach. It would be prudent to take
a few 'Core Technologies' and see them to their fruitful end,
than to take on too many and see them languishing due to lack
of funds and intent. One of the key inputs into a nation's security
apparatus is the way her defence technologies are harnessed
and managed. Nations that can exploit emerging technologies
and harness the horizon technologies are apt to build a higher
degree of security capability against all possible threats. |
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10.
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Time Domain.
To achieve and sustain technological superiority in Weapon |
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10. The time element is
a crucial factor in the introduction of high technology systems.
The major reason for this is the rate of technological obsolescence
which makes the system unsupportable in field use. Thus, establishment
and adherence of a clear and realistic timetable for the development,
evolution, manufacture, induction and upgradation of systems
is essentiality in the acquisition of high tech system capability.
Fundamentally, an integrated long term planning process is required
to be in place to cater for the shortfalls in current system
of forecasting of our requirements. |
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Core Capabilities |
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11.
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The capabilities that the Defence Services would
essentially need to acquire in a futuristic time |
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frame are termed as the
Horizon Core Capabilities. This time frame referred to pertains
to a 15 - 20 years horizon. The task of defining these capabilities
poses a major challenge for the three Services and is a perspective
to be based on a clear strategic vision of the global, regional
and national security environment and threat analysis with particular
reference to issues which impinge upon our National Security
and long term Defence Objectives. This also takes into account
the technological advancement in modern warfare, the likely
impact of the RMA and 'Information Warfare' as a holistic assessment
of capabilities required to conduct warfare in a modern high
tech field. |
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12.
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Services HQ are organised to carryout the long
term assessment of the desired capabilities |
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Perspective planning directorates
of the three services undertake the task of formulating these
Long Term Perspective Plans (LTPP) and Equipment Perspective
Plans. These plans indicate a broad assessment of the Defence
capabilities, Force Structures and the Equipment Profile that
the three Services wish to attain. |
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13.
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Identification of Horizon Core
Technologies. A report prepared by a Task Force aptly defines |
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the core technologies
that are likely to play a dominant role in the futuristic Defence
Weapon Systems to achieve a desired level of capabilities. As
a follow up, the DRDO has produced the vision, mission and core
competence document, that highlights the vision, the mission
and the core competencies of each laboratory/establishment of
DRDO. The DRDO is now required to identify the horizon technologies
(15-25 years time frame) on which it needs to focus its efforts.
These technologies should logically flow from the capabilities
that the three Services envisage that they would require in
the battlefield of the future. |
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The Road Ahead |
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14.
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The long awaited approval and consequent
raising of HQ Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) at New |
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Delhi during Oct 2000
has provided the necessary impetus to a number of inter-service
and joint activities and establishment of linkages with other
Defence establishments/organisations. One of these activities
that has been assigned prominence is to undertake the task of
'Identification of Core Technologies. For this purpose, a tri-service
team headed by a two star officer at HQ IDS has been constituted,
during Sep 02. This team officially termed as the Horizon Core
Technology (HCT) group comprises of members of the three Services
from within HQ IDS as also the representatives of the three
Services. DRDO has also been co-opted in the HCT group by way
of incorporating of G-FAST (Group for Analysis of Systems),
a DRDO Organisation, as a special invitee in the deliberations
of the HCT. |
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15.
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About G-FAST. This is a DRDO
organisation, headed by Chief Controller (R & D) and is referred
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to 'as the Think-Tank'
of DRDO. Eleven scientists with expertise in various defence
technologies form the permanent team of G-FAST. The charter
of this organisation pertains to technology forecasting and
development, identification of major systems and assessment
of interoperability. Further, based on the recommendation of
G-FAST, the DRDO has constituted task forces to focus technologies.
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16.
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Activities of HCT. Since the
formation of the HCT Group in Sep 02, a number of meeting have
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been held the deliberations
of these meetings are reflective of the fact that the task of
identification of Core Horizon Technologies is indeed an involved
one since these have to match the missions and the capabilities
that the three Services wish to achieve. The progress made by
the HCT group has been slow, but deliberate and has helped to
streamline and channelise the thought process of the Services
HQ towards defining the strategic and tactical capabilities
that they envisage, would provide a cutting edge in the future
battlefield milieu. Simultaneously, the involvement of G-FAST
has provided a meaningful linkage between the users aspirations
and the DRDO potential. Subsequent deliberations of the HCT
Group aim to seek an insight into the Horizon Core Capabilities
of the three Services and identification of associated technologies.
Simultaneously, the charter of the HCT group is proposed to
be expanded to include the following: - |
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| (a)
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To interact with G-FAST/DRDO to identify
Horizon Core Technologies to meet the capability |
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requirements of the Defence Services
in the long term. |
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| (b)
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To seek and establish linkages and
commence a dialogue with the Indian Industry through CII and
FICCI, and the NRIs and recommend measures to optimise these
linkages. |
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| (c)
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To establish a methodology to evaluate
long term technology forecasts, by encouraging and war gaming
and scenario building by the Services and thus identify technologies
requirements common to more than one Service. |
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| (d)
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To organisation defence technology
seminars at the national level focused on our long term threat
perceptions and our perspective plans. |
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17.
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It is important that the conceptualisation
process for mainly Long Term (Horizon) and to some |
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extent, the Medium Term
technologies, must begin at the earliest. This process calls
for a joint approach and establishment of mechanisms between
the Services, DRDO and the Industry, to provide an insight of
the planning and the technology forecasting process of DRDO/
G-FAST and the potential of the Industry to meet the Services
requirements of future capabilities and the associated technologies.
The IDS Tri-Service Team (HCT Group) is expected to provide
the required inputs. The earlier it can complete its mandate,
the better. |
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