IAF Chief: DEWS, Hypersonics To Define Military Capability In 2047

In an interesting look at India’s military power from 25 years ago and 25 years from now, the head of the Indian Air Force (IAF) pointed out how important Directed Energy Weapons (DEWS) and hypersonics will be in the future.

IAF chief Vivek Ram Chaudhari said at a public event on Tuesday, “The key to developing niche technologies faster is to identify core areas of development, clearly state requirements, and work closely with the industry to design and develop the technologies.”

“The weapons of India at 100 would look very different from the weapons of India at 75. Directed energy weapons and hypersonic weapons have already been tried out and used.

“DEWs, especially lasers, have a lot of advantages over traditional weapons. They can be used with more accuracy, cost less per shot, help with logistics, and are hard to find. “Our defence industries need to keep working on these weapons and put them on airborne platforms so we can get the range and accuracy we want,” he said.

China’s People’s Liberation Army wants to “basically finish” modernization by 2036 and become a “world-class force” by 2049. This is in line with President Xi Jinping’s well-known plan for the “Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation.”

Neighbours India and China are in a violent border dispute that hasn’t been solved despite diplomatic and military talks going on all the time.

The Indian military is going through a time of change, and its main goals are modernization and “atmanirbharta,” which means “self-reliance in defence production.” But at the same time, there is a process going on to get cutting-edge technology in some niche areas.

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari said that in 1998, the first operational launch of PSLV hadn’t happened yet, the Agni-1 MRBM with a range of 700 Km hadn’t been made, GPS was a new technology, and the IAF didn’t have any Su-30s.

“Because technology grows exponentially and its effects are super-exponential, the next 25 years will see even more growth, which may be hard to predict with a lot of accuracy at this point. But we can be sure that India will look very different in 25 years, in 2047, when our country will have been independent for 100 years,” he said.

He also mentioned Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Robotics and Self-Driving Systems, and the Battlefield of Things.