New Delhi: Contemporary war is no longer fought only with soldiers, weapons and for control of territory. The wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran have shown another battle taking place simultaneously: the battle for control of information, shaping public opinion and influencing how events are understood.
India’s armed forces are now treating this as an important part of warfare. Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, the apex tri-service organisation and its Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) this month held a two-day cognitive warfare simulation exercise for officers attending the Future Warfare Course-04 (FWC-04) at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi.
The four-week HQ IDS-led programme trains military officers and experts on AI, cyber warfare, quantum technologies, multi-domain operations and future battlefield challenges.
The course brings together officers from the three services, along with representatives from government organisations, academia, industry and strategic think-tanks.
The exercise shows a growing change in the country’s military training. Information warfare is widely viewed as an operational tool rather than something secondary to battlefield operations. Officers are trained to understand when to respond, what to say and when to stay silent.
The important part of this exercise was that the simulation platform, developed in India by Lt Col D. Satapathy (Retd) and his team, was designed and customised for FWC-04 and tested officers’ decision-making under pressure, adaptability and the ability to shape and counter narratives in the war space. This tool in the Indian Army enhances logistics, threat forecasting, and situational awareness.
Lt Col Satapathy (Retd) is a Subject Matter Expert on Strategic Communication, with years of expertise in this domain.
India faces growing challenges in this area. China has developed its information, psychological and legal warfare capabilities under its ‘Three Warfares’ concept.
Sources said an Indian-built platform can be designed around the country’s own media environment, languages, political attitudes, social media use and public behaviour. It also gives the military greater control over sensitive scenarios, training data and assessments linked to national security. The effort also aligns with the country’s broader push for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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