NEW DELHI: India is working on a “military space doctrine” that is likely to be brought out in two to three months, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said on Monday. “We are also working on a national military space policy,” he said. In his inaugural address at the third edition of the Indian DefSpace Symposium here, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) emphasised the space sector reforms undertaken by the country in recent years, and the works of Defence Space Agency, the key agency for developing capabilities that protect India’s interests in outer space and deal with threats of space wars.
The CDS also said that humanity is on the “cusp of an era” where space is emerging as a new domain of warfare, and pitched for developing a “space culture” that entails developing doctrines, conducting research and establishing dedicated warfare schools. “The Defence Space Agency is working on bringing out a military space doctrine, which hopefully should be out in two or three months. We are also working on a national military space policy,” the CDS told a gathering of defence and space experts.
Chauhan also mentioned the government’s approval of a 52-satellite constellation for the defence sector, of which 31 satellites will be built by the private sector. “We are going to launch 52-odd satellites for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance purposes, in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and private sector,” he said.
The Defence Space Agency in working on an integrated satellite communication grid to mitigate the current limitations and “prepare ourselves for future”, the CDS said. He underlined that military space operations are critical for identifying potential threats to national security. These threats may originate from state or non-state actors, and the vulnerabilities may extend beyond the space-based system.
“The capabilities of some of our adversaries are growing by leaps and bounds. They have created a special aerospace force, they have demonstrated on-orbit manoeuvres. It is important that we keep track of these because they form part of a risk-mitigation strategy,” the CDS said. He asserted that as Indians and “as a culture that respects space through knowledge and research, we need to reposition ourselves.” The Indian DefSpace Symposium was hosted by Indian Space Associated (ISpA) at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
Underlining how military ethos evolved over the centuries with the evolution of maritime and aerospace warfares, the CDS said that in the past, a seafaring culture may have allowed the Portuguese, the Spaniard, the English or the Dutch to dominate the world. Similarly, the aerospace culture led to the domination of the US and European nations.
He said during the era of maritime warfare, maritime capabilities could decide the outcome of a battle in the sea or have a major influence on the battle on the land. Similarly when air power become a major instrument of fighting war, it could decide a battle in the air space or have a large effect on the battle on land or the sea.
“So, when we say that space is going to form the basic building blocks of warfare in future, it is going to have an impact on all these three domains,” Chauhan said. “Hence, it is important to develop space capabilities. And before we develop these capabilities, it is important to create the ‘space culture’, or the culture of talking about space,” he said. The CDS underlined that space culture is about “new ideas on the use of space”.
Expounding his views of the space culture, the CDS said, “It is about doing seminal research on warfare. It is about the development of doctrines and strategies about space. It is also about development of subjects like space laws, or a framework for space diplomacy.” The CDS said that while scope for developing the space culture is vast, there is very less literature on it currently.
“Building a space culture is not about creating new start-ups on space. It is also about space journals, articles, space warfare institutes and societies that ideate on it,” he said, adding, “I think there is an important need that Services also have their own space warfare schools in the near future.” Former IAF chief V R Chaudhari (retired), in his address, said that space-based assets will become “what we call in military terms, the new centres of gravity”.
The Air Chief Marshal emphasised that militarisation of space is not a futuristic concept. “It is not a matter of if, but when,” he said. The growing arms race in space is going to become a “strategic imperative” and this is something India should not lose sight of, he added.
