Year of Technology Absorption

Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande sets out goal for the Indian Army in 2024

- MANISH KUMAR JHA

FOR THE INDIAN ARMY, 2024 will be marked as the year of Technology Absorption, keeping the pace of modernisation at the core of its strategic & capability roadmap.

“The character of warfare continues to change. To prepare ourselves for the future, we set into motion a holistic transformation process last year. We have made good progress and many milestones have been achieved. Our capability development endeavours stand on the edifice of Atmanirbharta, to which we are firmly committed. The transition towards becoming a modern, agile, adaptive, and technology-enabled future-ready force shall continue as part of the Transformation Roadmap,” said the Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande during the annual press conference ahead of Army Day.

The Chief of Army Staff further asserted that the Indian Army will observe the year 2024 as the ‘Year of Technology Absorption’ -- a theme that underscores the Army’s focus and efforts to leverage technology as a catalyst for transformative change.

Army Chief spelt out modernisation plans which are broadly based on developing critical combat capabilities. The Indian army has emphasised its futuristic perspective in the Defence Capability Development Strategy.

Building on the concept of a ‘Smart Army’, the Army Chief has been emphasising some of the key focus areas in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), focusing on surveillance, image interpretation, vehicle tracking systems, and facial recognition within the AI domain.