‘Sudarshan Chakra’ will be India’s shield and sword, but needs massive integration, says CDS Anil Chauhan

Referring to the Sudarshan Chakra as India’s own Iron Dome or Golden Dome—a reference to Israel’s air defence system—Gen Chauhan said the aim is to develop a system to protect India’s strategic, civilian, and nationally important sites. It will act both as a shield and a sword.

“Over here, I think it will entail the development of robust infrastructure and processes for the detection, acquisition, and neutralisation of the enemy’s air vectors, including the use of soft skills and hard skills, both kinetic and direct energy weapons,” he said.

Referring to the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s successful maiden flight tests of the Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (IADWS) on Sunday, he said it comprised indigenous Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missiles (QRSAM), Advanced Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) missiles, and 5-kilowatt lasers—all combined into one.

“We’ll have to look at multi-domain ISR, integration of ground, air, maritime, undersea, space, sensors, all becoming a key necessity and integrating them,” Gen Chauhan said.

He added that a “colossal amount of integration” will be required, as multiple fields will need to be networked to provide a fused picture.

“Colossal amounts of data will need to be analysed for information in real-time response. Use of artificial intelligence, advanced computation, data analytics, big data, LLM, and quantum technologies will be essential,” the CDS said.

He added that for a vast country like India, a project of this magnitude will require a whole-of-nation approach.

“But like always, I am very sure Indians will do it at a minimal and very affordable cost to us.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, announced the launch of Mission Sudarshan Chakra—a comprehensive, multi-layered, networked system aimed at protecting India and its vital installations from enemy attacks across domains. The shield is expected to offer multiple layers of protection by combining surveillance, cybersecurity, and air defence systems to detect and destroy threats, including long-range missiles, aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Defence research organisations and the private sector are expected to collaborate on the project.

In his keynote, Gen Chauhan also referred to Operation Sindoor, calling it a modern conflict from which India has drawn several lessons, many of which are already under implementation. “The operation is still on,” he said.

“India has always stood on the side of peace. We are a peace-loving nation, but don’t get mistaken, we cannot be pacifists. I think peace without power is utopian,” he said, drawing from a Latin quote: “If you want peace, prepare for war.”

“As a Viksit Bharat, we also need to be ‘Shashastra’, ‘Suraksit’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar’. Not only in technology, but also in ideas and in practice,” he said.

He added: “There is a need to increase awareness across all fragments of our society on doctrinal and conceptual aspects, the academic pursuits of how war is fought, and practical warfighting techniques and tactics.”

Referring to the Mahabharata and the Gita, he said ‘Shastra’ and ‘Shaastra’ have always been spoken about in the same breath.

“They were actually the two blades of the same sword. We know that a combination of military strategy and warriors is essential to win, and the foremost and best example of this is the Mahabharata and the Gita.”

He said Arjuna was the greatest warrior of all time, yet he needed Krishna to guide him, while Chandragupta required the wisdom of Chanakya.

“India has been a land of Gautam Buddha, Mahavir Jain, and Mahatma Gandhi, all champions of non-violence,” he said.

On future wars, Gen Chauhan outlined four trends

“First, there is an increased propensity amongst nations and governments to use force, and this is happening because political objectives today can be achieved by short-duration conflicts,” he said.

The second, he said, is the lack of distinction between war and peace. “This particular era of declared wars is over. Contemporary warfare today is a kind of continuum of five C’s—competition, crisis, confrontation, conflict and combat—between wars.”

“The third important thing is the importance of people. In the past, because of territory and ideology, people and soldiers were sacrificed,” he said.

“The fourth important trend we can debate is the matrices of victory and how we perceive victory. In the past, victory was probably defined by losses inflicted in terms of men and equipment. In 1971, we had 95,000 Pakistanis captured. But in today’s warfare, the new matrices of victory are the speed and tempo of operations, effects of long-range precision strikes.”

“In today’s warfare, the matrix of victory has changed. Effects of long-range precision strikes, display of sophistication in all domains, and superior narrative are important,” he said.

He stressed that serious research is needed on all dimensions of war—leadership, motivation, and technology. “We need to be ‘atmanirbhar’ in ideas and practice.”