Cyber & Electronic Warfare: The Indian Army’s Digital Battlefield

The Indian Army is rapidly evolving its capabilities to meet the challenges of modern warfare, where digital dominance is as crucial as physical superiority. As adversaries leverage advanced cyber and electronic warfare (EW) technologies to disrupt and deceive in the digital domain, India is strengthening its cyber resilience, countering digital espionage, and enhancing EW capabilities.

India's Cyber Transformation

To strengthen its cyber capabilities, the Indian Army decided in 2023 during the Army Commanders Conference to set up Command Cyber Operations and Support Wings (CCOSW) to safeguard military networks and respond to cyber threats. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to integrate cyber operations across all armed forces and ensure the protection of critical defence infrastructure.

Recognising the need for skilled personnel, the Army held its first hackathon in 2021, which lasted three months and saw participation from over 15,000 cybersecurity experts. The event focused on offensive cyber operations, coding, and intercepting encrypted communications, reflecting the Army's commitment to developing homegrown talent in cybersecurity.

Electronic Warfare & Integration

Parallel to its cyber efforts, the Indian Army is enhancing its EW capabilities. Indigenous systems like Samyukta and Himshakti have been deployed to counter electronic threats in varied terrains. However, India is working to bridge the gap between cyber and EW operations as adversaries increasingly integrate cyberattacks with electronic disruption techniques.
Multi-Domain Operations & Electronic Dominance

The Indian Army's cyber and EW focus aligns with its broader vision of Multi-Domain Operations (MDO)-integrating land, air, sea, space, and cyberspace to achieve strategic advantage. The Army is incorporating MDO concepts in joint exercises, simulating contested environments where cyber and EW components disrupt enemy communications and degrade command and control systems.

Recent acquisitions of cutting-edge radar systems and electronic countermeasure units further emphasise the Army's focus on electromagnetic dominance. These capabilities are critical in neutralising enemy air defence systems, disrupting electronic attacks, and ensuring seamless communication among Indian forces.

Technological Advancements

India is aggressively pursuing 45 niche technologies for military applications, spanning across 16 clusters, including cyber, space, quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G/6G, blockchain, augmented/virtual reality, directed energy weapons (DEWs), loitering munitions, robotics, drones, and counter-drone systems. With 120 indigenous projects underway, the Army is focusing on indigenising key defence technologies to reduce reliance on foreign systems.

India unveiled the Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations to streamline cyber operations on June 18, 2024. This doctrine integrates cyber capabilities across the tri-services, ensuring real-time information sharing, offensive-defensive cyber coordination, and long-term capacity building to counter evolving threats. The doctrine positions India to better defend against cyberattacks while developing offensive cyber capabilities as a deterrence measure.

Future Outlook

Reports indicate that by mid-2025, the Indian Army plans to induct cyber operations and information warfare (IW) specialists, further strengthening its digital battlefield capabilities. This aligns with the Defence Ministry's 2025 "Year of Reforms" initiative, which prioritises cyber and space domains and emerging technologies like AI, machine learning, hypersonics, and robotics.

The reforms aim to modernise the armed forces, making them technologically advanced and combat-ready for multi-domain integrated operations. International partnerships and defence collaborations are also expected to play a role in accelerating India's cybersecurity and electronic warfare capabilities.

Securing India's Digital Battlefield

As warfare increasingly shifts into the digital domain, the Indian Army's proactive cyber and EW strategy is crucial for national security. Through strategic investments, policy frameworks, and international collaborations, India is steadily building a resilient, adaptive defence infrastructure. Maintaining this momentum will be vital in ensuring that India's digital battlefield remains secure against sophisticated adversaries in the years to come.

Ashu Mann is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies. He is currently pursuing his PhD from Amity University, Noida, in Defence and Strategic Studies.