Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan emphasised that the multi-domain operations require convergence across physical, synthetic, and cognitive realms, highlighting the urgency of faster decision-making in an AI-driven battlespace, an official said on Friday.
Speaking on the concluding day of the two-day national seminar ‘Ran Samwad’ anchored around the theme “Multi-Domain Operations (MDO): An Imperative for Addressing Conventional and Irregular Threats”, the CDS underlined that warfare in the present era spans across multiple dimensions of time, cyber, electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, and cognition.
This demands seamless tri-service integration and innovative thinking; therefore, the focus has now shifted from coordination to true integration among the Indian Defence Forces, he added.
General Chauhan announced that Ran Samwad 2027 would be organised on the theme “High-Intensity Operations in a Transparent and Expanded Battlespace: Challenges for Force Application and Force Preservation”. Post his address, he met with the members of the media fraternity and lauded their role in nation-building and nurturing the spirit of strategic culture.
The second day of Ran Samwad also witnessed profound discussions by senior officers from the tri-services on a broad spectrum of subjects, including Doctrinal Adaptation and Training for Multi Domain Operations (MDO), Re-imagining Operational Art, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) Integration for Information Superiority in MDO, and joint planning.
The seminar succeeded in fostering a shared understanding of the challenges posed by both conventional and irregular threats through a collaborative roadmap and meaningful discussions on the complexities of war, warfare, and warfighting.
The collaborative spirit demonstrated over the two days reaffirmed the Indian Defence Forces’ commitment towards achieving decision superiority and operational excellence in an increasingly contested multi-domain battlespace.
Earlier, a session featured an interactive talk on “Reimagining Op Art for #MDO”, chaired by Lt General Anindya Sengupta, GOC-in-C Central Command, the Headquarters of Integrated Defence Staff, said on a social media post.
“He highlighted that operational art must adapt from single-domain warfighting to persistent Multi-Domain and grey-zone conflict,” said the post.
“Air Cmde MPS Virk spoke on ‘ISR Integration for Info Superiority in #MDO’. Wg Cdr Abhishek Tripathi enlightened the audience on the nuances of ‘Joint Planning for #MDO’. Capt (IN) RS Sawan spoke on ‘Force Development for #MDO: Current Capabilities and Future requirements’,” said the post.
