During the four-day military conflict with Pakistan, starting on the night of May 6th-7th, Indian defence sources reported successfully striking several of the neighbouring country’s military sites. 

India’s successful defence against Pakistani attacks was attributed to a powerful combination of three technologies. Space technology provided vital intelligence, advanced electronics offered strong defensive measures, and AI (artificial intelligence) delivered the analytical power needed for rapid and effective countermeasures.

According to sources, India’s possession of indigenous navigation, robust air defence with hard and soft kill options, and precise deep-penetration strike capabilities against Pakistan highlights the nation’s expanding strategic leverage through technological advancements.

A defence source said, “From detecting a radar picture of an enemy object in the sky, or taking a strategic position to shoot it down from land, sea and air was demonstrated using AI cloud-based state-of-the-art integrated air command and control systems”.

In last week’s Indo-Pak military conflict, India used a lot of its advanced technology to defend against Pakistani air threats. This was planned over five years ago, when the armed forces started looking at using AI in their strategies.

In 2018, the Defence Ministry formed the Defence AI Council (DAIC) and Defence AI Project Agency (DAIPA) after studying AI’s importance for security. By 2022, defence companies had a plan with 70 AI projects (40 done), and a total of 129 projects were approved by 2026 (77 done). In 2022, each branch of the military also set aside ₹100 crore for AI.

In the Western Theatre, the Indian Army now uses two AI systems from DRDO’s CAIR: the Intercept Management System (IMS) for automatic intelligence analysis and the Air Defence Control and Reporting System (ADC & RS) for detecting and stopping aerial threats early.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/business/ai-india-pakistan-conflict-aerial-attacks-10009639/