AI weapons to be part of armed forces

RESEARCH TO USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR NEXT GENERATION WARFARE IS ON

In an ambitious defence project, the Indian government has started work on incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the operational preparedness of the armed forces in a significant way that would include equipping them with unmanned tanks, vessels, aerial vehicles and robotic weaponry.

The move is part of a broader policy initiative to prepare the Army, Navy and the Air Force for next generation warfare and comes amid rising Chinese investments in developing critical applications of AI for its military.

Secretary Defence Production Ajay Kumar said the government had decided to introduce AI in all the three forces as it would be a “big area” considering the requirements of future warfare.

He said a high-powered task force headed by Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran was finalising the specifics and framework of the project, which would be implemented in a “partnership model” between the armed forces and the private sector.

“It is India’s preparation for next generation warfare. This (AI) is where the future is going to be. We need to prepare ourselves for the next generation warfare which will be more and more technology driven, more and more automated and robotised,” he told PTI.

Like many other world powers, India had also started work on the application of AI to boost the capabilities of its armed forces, Kumar said, adding that unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned naval vessels, unmanned tanks and automatic robotic rifles as weapon systems will have an extensive use in future wars.

“We need to create capabilities for all these platforms,” he said.

Military sources said the project would also include production of a range of unmanned platforms for the three services. They said the forces were strongly pushing for extensive applications of AI in their operational preparedness on a par with leading global military powers.

The sources said the application of AI in the surveillance of India’s borders with China and Pakistan could significantly ease the pressure on armed forces personnel guarding the sensitive frontiers.