Space dominance key to future warfare, says CDS; DRDO chief urges whole-of-nation push to close gaps with rivals

NEW DELHI: Emphasising that space is a strategic domain today, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said on Thursday that “if we fail in space, we will be forced to fight blind. However, if we dominate in space, we will fight with foresight”.

Making a virtual statement at Indian DefSpace Symposium titled “Strengthening India's Defence and Space Industry Synergy” here, Gen Chouhan said, “Technology is no longer just an enabler. It's reshaping the very calculus of power. In this emerging paradigm, space is no longer a support function. It's a strategic field that influences defence, escalation control and war-fighting outcomes.”

Amid media reports that Iran has integrated China's BeiDou navigation satellite system to boost the accuracy of its missiles and drones targeting US and Israeli assets, CDS said, “Space has evolved into a derivative capability, where services generated by one nation can be leveraged by multiple actors, state as well as non-state alike. This fundamentally affects the application of military force, as is evident in the Iran-US-Israel conflict...This democratisation of space capability is both an opportunity and a strategic vulnerability.”

At the event, DRDO chairman Samir V Kamat called for a “whole-of-nation” approach to close India's capability gap with rivals whose space programmes are expanding at an alarming pace. He, however, stressed that catching up will be a “Herculean challenge” without greater investment and collaboration.

While Isro remains the lead agency for the civilian space programme, Kamat said DRDO has been entrusted with addressing military aspects of space after the formation of the Defence Space Agency. Kamat made it clear that while some “space technologies can still be sourced from abroad, several areas remain restricted and require indigenous development”.
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