A day after Air Chief Marshal AP Singh voiced his reservations over the proposed creation of theatre commands, the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, has called for the rollout of theatre commands as the “ultimate goal”. The CNS was speaking on ‘Integrating Technology For Future Ready Navy’ during the ongoing Ran Samwad-2025, being organised at the Army War College, here on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, while seeking a more practical and cohesive planning structure, the COAS had cautioned against succumbing to pressure to implement something hastily, stressing that it should not be done merely for the sake of doing it.
“You cannot have a theatre commander sitting somewhere, and now who do they talk to, where do they get direction from? Phones are available, but generally that does not work like that,” he had said, adding that “Disrupting everything and making one structure now at this time, I do not think it is a very good idea. I think theatre commands; we cannot pick up from any other country.”
Speaking about the jointness among the three services, Tripathi said that theaterization was the ultimate goal. “We are committed to synergising our command and control, communications, and combat capability with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force,” Tripathi said.
“With theaterisation as the ultimate goal, we are propelling ahead with the goal of unified planning, a common picture, and integrated operation. Since integration begins at the human level, we have focused our attention on maximising interaction and cross-pollination across all levels. So, I have an Army Aide-de-Camp (ADC) with me, and my friend, the Air Chief, has got a naval Flight Lieutenant with him,” Tripathi added.
Stating that the emerging technologies are altering the traditional asymmetries in warfare at sea, where once the seas reflected the overwhelming imbalance in favour of larger navies, the CNS said that today technology is allowing even the smallest actor to force outside threats. “Technology is no longer the monopoly of state laboratories or large defence enterprises. With the proliferation of autonomous off-the-shelf drones, networked through commercial satellites in the air, on the surface, and subsurface. Today, even non-state actors and proxies present a level of procedure and strike capability once reserved for measurable past the same time.”
Drawing attention towards the emergence of seas, once called global commons, as frontlines of grey zone activities, Tripathi said technology is accelerating the strength.
“Technology has equipped grey zone actors with tools to apply pressure and disturb order at sea without triggering austerities. Fishing fleets fitted with satellite communication and long-range sensors now act as extensions of national strategy. Remaining at sea while relaying positional and surveillance intelligence in real time,” he said.
He further added that the research and survey vessels, ostensibly engaged in scientific pursuits, increasingly carry sophisticated sonar and electronic systems capable of mapping the seabed and gathering hydrographic intelligence, which are of obvious military value.
Highlighting that the conflict at sea is no longer confined to the familiar, real subsurface, air, subsurface, or even space, the CNS said that it now infiltrates cyberspace and extends into the deep seabed, which houses critical infrastructure, like energy cables and energy pipelines, as well as rare elements, which are the stretching oil of this century.
The Naval Chief said that the technology is driving a shift towards distributed operations at sea, changing the very nature of how navies project power and maintain resilience. “Distributed operations leverage the power of networking to mass effects without massing assets, thereby enhancing survivability. Surface ships, submarines, unproven vessels, and aerial systems separated across vast distances can now operate collaboratively as a single, agile, and intelligent entity, with a cumulative effect where the whole is exponentially greater than the sum of its parts,” he said.
Such network operations can significantly enhance offensive posture at sea by having the ability to concentrate effects through long-range durations from ships, submarines, carrier-based strike aircraft, or even makeshift containers carried on board ships, he added.
Stating that the IN aims to turn every opportunity at hand into a combat advantage, Tripathi said, “We are progressively enhancing the complexity and realism of our weapon firings and operational exercises, be it engagements in GPS-denied environments, engagement of supersonic targets, or defence against drone attacks.”