How India is preparing to fight the wars of the future

New Delhi, Oct 16: The decision by the Cabinet Committee on security which cleared the formation of the Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and Special Operation Division is being seen as a step forward to fight the contemporary and new threats.

In 2012, the Chief of Staff Committee had recommended the formation of three commands for cyber, space and special operations. This was suggested with an intent to deal with the new and emerging threats. The formation of the three agencies is a major step forward in dealing with the new age security threats.

The three agencies would drawn from each other and function under the Chairman, Chief of Staff Committee. The cyber and space agency would operate out of Delhi, while the Special Operations Division will function from outside the national capital.

Special Operations Division:

The Special Operations Division will have components of the Special Forces of the Indian Army and IAF. The primary function would be to deal with the various external contingencies.

The Army currently has Special Forces battalions. The Navy has the Marine Commandoes or Marcos while the IAF has Garud. The new division will be based at a location which already has training infrastructure.

Defence Space Agency:

The Defence Space Agency will have nearly 200 personnel who in turn would work closely with the ISRO and DRDO. The aim is to ensure better utilisation and integration of space resources.

The brief would be to share information and surveillance from individual satellites. This in turn would be shared with the concerned defence services.

Defence Cyber Agency:

The Defence Cyber Agency would have nearly 1,000 personnel and would work in coordination with the National Cyber Security Advisor.

The personnel would be distributed to various formations of the Army, Navy and IAD. The focus would be on non-civilian issues, which would include safeguarding the critical infrastructure.

Securing the cyber space:

The development comes in the wake of the new military doctrine that was released last year. The new doctrine underscores the need to prepare for future combat. It spoke about the emerging threats from the cuber space.

The Defence Cyber Agency working along the Special Operations Division and Defence Space Agency would engage in defending India's military assets and resources. It would also use its offensive capabilities in case of proxy cyber warfare which the non-state actors and terrorists engage in.

Experts say that these new bodies were the need of the hour considering that future wars would be fought mainly on the cyber space. The DCA would also move away from a compliance audit of cyber warfare, which is the existing practise to an audit based on potential threat perceptions and risks. The DCA would also look to exploit and use the technology available with the young technocrats and software entrepreneurs.