General Anil Chauhan, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), has said that he thinks space is already a battlefield and that it will “cast its influence” on the air, sea, and land.
General Chauhan also said that “space diplomacy” will soon be a fact in a video address that was shown at the start of the three-day Indian Defence Space Symposium in Delhi on Thursday.
At the event at the Manekshaw Center here, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) Chairman Samir V Kamat, and other top military leaders were present.
In his speech, General Chauhan talked about how space will change fighting in the future.
“I will touch upon where we are and where we need to go,” he stated.
“People call space the last frontier. The size of space is endless, and it is also growing. It’s hard to say exactly where its edges are, just like with any other border. People still have a long way to go before they can fully understand space. The CDS said, “India wants to be a part of that journey.”
Another thing he talked about was the four “cosmonauts in training” in India as part of the “Gaganyaan” program.
People also say that space is becoming a new battlefield. I think that it is already a well-known place for war. “My belief is based on the fact that things are changing quickly in this area,” he said.
General Chauhan said that the past of war “taught us that in any war, the first battle usually takes place in a new area.”
He also said that the fights in older domains are changed by the new domain.
“At first, the naval power could affect battles on land.” Later, air power changed both land and sea wars. “I believe that space will now have an effect on the air, the sea, and the land,” General Chauhan said in his video speech.
It is impossible to have any kind of authority in space, he said, calling it a “global commons.”
It was also said by the CDS that “space diplomacy will soon become a reality.”
You don’t have to live next door to a nice country to work together in space. He also said that distances and political differences could be “beneficial in defense space cooperation.”