Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday (January 10), that Aero Space Power was the new frontier of military dominance which acts as strategic deterrence. He highlighted the growing significance of air and space power in shaping strategies, emphasizing how integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) systems into these assets delivers unmatched advantages in battlefield scenarios.
The defence minister was addressing the Ambassadors’ Round-Table, organised as a precursor to Aero India 2025 – Asia’s largest aero show in Bengaluru, Karnataka, held every two years, in New Delhi.
Space Power as the Present and the Future
Defence Minister Singh has rightly pointed out the role of aerospace power as a new frontier for military dominance and strategic deterrence due to its unmatched capabilities in modern warfare and geopolitics. Let’s discuss this in a slight detail
Strategic Reach and Surveillance
Aerospace assets, such as satellites, drones, and advanced aircraft, provide unparalleled global reach, enabling nations to monitor activities across vast distances. This capability is crucial for real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), ensuring a strategic advantage in decision-making and battlefield awareness. We have seen its indispensable roles in India’s recent operations like surgical strikes or Balakot air strikes.
Precision and Speed
Air and space-based systems facilitate rapid deployment and precise strikes, reducing collateral damage while enhancing operational effectiveness. Technologies like hypersonic missiles offer unprecedented speed and impact, reshaping military strategies.
Integration of AI and ML
The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into aerospace systems enables autonomous decision-making, predictive analytics, and advanced targeting, significantly improving operational efficiency and reducing human error and make it more ferocious.
Deterrence through Technological Superiority
Deterrence through aerospace superiority relies on exploiting advanced technology to discourage adversaries from initiating conflict. By showcasing overwhelming capabilities, such as stealth bombers, hypersonic missiles, and space-based surveillance, nations create a psychological barrier, signaling that aggression would lead to swift and decisive retaliation.
Superior aerospace assets enable rapid responses, real-time monitoring, and the ability to neutralize threats, like intercepting enemy missiles. This undermines an adversary’s confidence in their offensive capabilities.
Control over space assets, required for communication, navigation, and surveillance, increases strategic dominance.
Future of Warfare
Space assets, such as communication satellites and anti-satellite weapons, are critical for command and control systems. As space becomes a contested domain, control over aerospace power defines strategic advantage and military preeminence.
In essence, aerospace power integrates cutting-edge technology with unparalleled mobility and precision, making it a cornerstone of modern military dominance and an essential tool for ensuring national security and strategic stability.
Aero India Ambassadors’ Round-Table: Global Collaboration and More
At the event, he also addressed the geopolitical tensions and the need for peace. “It is of paramount importance that the like-minded countries should strive together for collective actions for peace and prosperity. Without these, our future generations will not be able to take advantage of economic growth or technological innovations that we are experiencing in today’s era,” Singh said at the event.
He also highlighted India’s emergence as a leading voice for the Global South and its commitment to global challenges through principles of respect, dialogue, cooperation, peace, and prosperity, guided by the ethos of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the world is one home). He described Aero India 2025, scheduled for February 10–14, 2025, in Bengaluru, as a premier platform for fostering international collaboration in the aerospace and defence sectors. The event will feature exhibitions, air shows, business conclaves, and strategic discussions to strengthen partnerships, encourage technology transfer, and boost India’s defence industrial ecosystem.
Singh emphasized India’s growing self-reliance in defence, aided by transformative policies under ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ and highlighted milestones like the Tata-Airbus collaboration for C-295 aircraft. He stressed the strategic importance of air and space power, enhanced by AI and ML technologies, and invited global leaders to leverage Aero India 2025 as a forum for sustainable growth and innovation.
