NEW DELHI – In an ambitious defence project, the government has startedwork on incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance theoperational preparedness of the armed forces in a significant way thatwould include equipping them with unmanned tanks, vessels, aerial vehiclesand robotic weaponry.

The move is part of a broader policy initiative to prepare the Army, Navyand Air Force for next generation warfare and comes amid rising Chineseinvestments in developing critical applications of AIlink>forits military, Hindustan Times has reported.

Secretary of defence production Ajay Kumar said the government had decidedto introduce AI in all the three forces as it would be a “big area”considering the requirements of future warfare.

He said a high-powered task force headed by Tata Sons chairman NChandrasekaran is finalising the specifics and framework of the project,which would be implemented in a “partnership model” between the armedforces and the private sector.

“It is India’s preparation for next generation warfare. This (AI) is wherethe future is going to be. We need to prepare ourselves for the nextgeneration warfare which will be more and more technology driven, more andmore automated and robotised,” he told PTI.

Like many other world powers, India had also started work on theapplication of AI to boost the capabilities of its armed forces, Kumarsaid, adding that unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned naval vessels,unmanned tanks and automatic robotic rifles as weapon systems will have anextensive use in future wars.

“We need to create capabilities for all these platforms,” he said.

Military sources said the project would also include production of a rangeof unmanned platforms for the three services. They said the forces werestrongly pushing for extensive applications of AI in their operationalpreparedness on a par with leading global military powers.

The sources said the application of AI in the surveillance of India’sborders with China and Pakistan could significantly ease the pressure onarmed forces personnel guarding the sensitive frontiers.

China has been pouring in billions of dollars into AI research and machinelearning. Last year, it unveiled an ambitious plan to make the country theAI innovation centre of the world by 2030.

The US, Britain, France and the European Union are also investingsignificantly in AI, an area of computer science devoted to the creation ofintelligent machines.

The US has been carrying out successful operations targeting terroristhideouts in Afghanistan and Northwest Pakistan using unmanned drones whichoperate with the help of artificial intelligence.

“AI is going to be a very big concept in the coming years. Major countriesof the world are now working on strategies to see how AI can be used fordefence forces. We are also moving ahead. What is unique about thisinitiative is that we have industry and defence forces working jointly,”Kumar said.

He said the recommendations of the task force were likely to come in byJune and then the government would take the project forward. “India has afairly strong IT industry base and that is going to be our biggest strengthin terms of developing AI capabilities,” said Kumar, who has been playing akey role in pushing forward the project.

Kumar said a framework was being finalised under which industry and defenceforces could work together to create a strong base for AI in defencesystems. “We need to work on a partnership model which should be differentfrom a buyer- seller proposition while fully leveraging capabilities of theindustry,” he said, adding state-run Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) would be a major player in the project.

Kumar said there was an enormous potential for the use of AI in thecivilian sphere as well and the task force was also looking into it.