India's chief of defence staff calls for integrated, data-centric multi-domain warfare

At the Defence Tech Summit on Multi-Domain Defence Capability Development and Digital Engineering, Chief of defence staff General NS Raja Subramani argued that India’s military transformation requires an integrated, data-centric "system of systems" rather than a collection of separate platforms. He stressed that resilient, near-real-time communications linking space, air, naval, ground and electronic-warfare assets are essential in contested environments.

Subramani called for the armed forces to abandon data hoarding, digitise paper records and share information by default, while developing sovereign AI models alongside secure open-source alternatives. He warned that AI adoption is inevitable but final command decisions must remain human. Addressing industry participants, he urged faster, larger-scale delivery of technology solutions and praised the United Service Institution for enhancing his strategic knowledge.