Role of technology: Conflicts moving towards sci-fi warfare realm Raksha Anirveda 13 May 2026
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Role of technology: Conflicts moving towards sci-fi warfare realm Raksha Anirveda 13 May 2026
The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict was the first to give the world an inkling on how future wars would emerge. Technology, including effective the use of rockets, drones and missiles, were witnessed for the first time. Armenia employed Russian missiles, rockets and EW systems, while Azerbaijan fired Israeli and Turkish weapon systems, including drones and loitering ammunitions. Since then, Armenia has procured Indian manufactured Pinaka missiles and Akash air defence systems.
The Ukraine conflict enhanced the role of technology in the battlefield. Drones accounted for 80% of strikes on both sides. Russia initially employed Iran’s Shaheed drones, subsequently modified into its own version, Geran, while in Ukraine, drone manufacturing became a cottage industry, with dual-use parts being imported from across the world and drones assembled. Today it is a battle of drones and missiles while ground operations have stalled.
The battlefield became transparent with proliferation of drones, AI-based analysis as also availability of commercial satellite imagery. Surprise became difficult. Armoured and artillery weapon systems were targeted by drones embedded with AI, which hunted them and were subsequently modified for anti-jamming. Even foot soldiers found it difficult to avoid detection by drones. Once detected, escape was unlikely. Offensive operations as also surprise on the battlefield will be difficult to achieve in any future conflict. Finding countermeasures to drones is the need of the hour.
Any defence system would be overwhelmed when drones and missiles are launched simultaneously and Ukraine initially faced the brunt. It soon realized that expending costly missiles against cheap drones was not the solution. It was compelled to develop its own countermeasures as war progressed and produced a multi-layered anti-drone weapon incorporating acoustic drone detection, which was fairly successful against Russian strikes. These have now been deployed with nations in the Middle East.
Till recently, robots were considered suitable only for re-supply missions, casualty evacuation, surveillance as also mining and demining operations. Their roles are now increasing. In a first, in Apr this year, Ukraine employed unmanned ground vehicles and drones to enforce surrenders of few Russian soldiers. The controller of these systems was safe at a distance, while the robots were armed with effective small arms. This was announced by the Ukrainian President Zelenskky. While the claim has not been verified, however is a turning point in how conflicts could evolve. It is possible that this is a one-off incident, though with the manner in which technology is developing, robots could well begin emerging in lieu of soldiers on the battlefield, especially in some tasks.
Ukraine also had to innovate to manage another critical shortage, which was lack of manpower. Thus, the shift to robots. It is reported to possess a large robotic arsenal which they claim to have utilized in thousands of missions in the first few months of this year. Ukrainian military mention that there has been a shift from aerial weapons like drones to robots basically because the skies had become saturated with drones. As war progresses, capabilities and ranges of drones continue to increase, while robots would dominate ground operations.
While Ukraine is a conflict between two neighbouring countries, the Iran war involves adversaries located at a distance, US-Israel combine and Iran. It also has unequal adversaries, the US possessing overwhelming military power as also latest technology while Iran fights an asymmetry war for survival. It was evident that operations would be dominated by air and space power while the possibility of employment of troops on the ground remain non-existent. Thus, the nature of technology employed in such a war will be different.
The conflict largely involved air power versus long-range vectors with high accuracy, as also use of AI in other fields. Iran had spread its missile and drone arsenal across the country in underground shelters to prevent them from being destroyed. Simultaneously, these had to move rapidly, deploy and fire before they were detected. It banked on Chinese satellites and other systems for information on US bases and their aerial assets. Iran’s missiles and drones were accurate. Damages to US bases have been immense.
The use of cluster ammunition in its missiles enabled Iran to breach Israel’s famed Iron dome systems, despite Israel having prior warning due to distance involved. Most of the damage in Israel was caused by cluster ammunition. Incidentally, both Israel and Iran are not signatories to the UN convention on cluster munitions.
While Israel faced missiles, nations in the Middle East targeted by Iran were largely hit by drones accompanied by slower and older missiles. The US and its Middle Eastern allies were compelled to employ Patriot systems worth millions of dollars to counter drones which cost a fraction of that amount.
AI is also being exploited in the information warfare domain by both sides. Iran no longer projects itself as a religious-ideological state. It combines its state media resources, covert (largely Chinese controlled) social media influencers and AI tools to target audiences in the West, specifically the US. The US, on the other hand, is focussing on justifying the necessity of the war to its domestic audiences and allies employing AI based narratives. The US narrative appears to pale before Iran’s. The conflict displayed new levels of merger of AI, satire and narrative warfare in a major conflict.
Recent conflicts also displayed innovative methods of employing technology laced with intelligence. These included Israel’s use of pager blasts against the Hezbollah and Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web, which involved drones launched from deep within Russia. A Spider Web type operation is a major concern for India in future conflicts as Pak sleeper cells exist in different parts of the country. Israel also exploited its technology to determine the time and place of meeting of Iran’s top leadership, all of whom were killed in a single joint US-Israel strike.
India has been assessing both these conflicts alongside lessons which emerged from Operation Sindoor. It has enhanced employment of drones for surveillance as also equipped its troops with drones based on their operational tasks. Along northern borders employment of drones enables real-time information on adversarial movements, especially near critical passes. While troops could visit these passes once a day, drones can now monitor then 24X7. Indian defence industry with local technology has achieved breakthroughs in drone, counter drone as also EW, amongst others domains. This was visible at the recently concluded North Tech Symposium in Prayagraj.
As technology develops, nature of warfare will change. Enhancement in capabilities of drones and missiles would need enhancement in counter systems. Growth in technology by one nation becomes a concern for others as they need to continuously develop counter-measures.
What also needs to be assessed is the role of traditional forces in future wars. Will robots be deployed alongside troops in forward areas and what tasks could be assigned to them or will air power need to give space to missiles and drones. The ultimate question is whether warfare will move to the realm of sci-fi or remain a mix of traditional and sci-fi.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army