Drones Increased Complexity Of Challenges From State And State-Sponsored Actors: Army Chief

Gen MM Naravane said that there was a need for shedding old mindsets and make procedures "more flexible" and "adaptive" to bring in changes and incorporate niche technologies like artificial technologies to deal with emerging challenges and prepare for future wars.

Army Chief Gen MM Naravane on Thursday said that easy availability of drones has increased the complexity of security challenges from both state and state-sponsored actors and called for shedding "old mindsets" to deal with the changing character of modern warfare encompassing a multitude of new threats. Speaking at a think-tank, he said the transition of the military to the digital age is "contrarian" to the defence procurement procedure and that the first and foremost issue was changing the existing mindset to embrace change. The Army Chief's comments came days after explosives-laden drones were used to carry out an attack on the Jammu Air Force station in the first such instance of suspected Pakistan-based terrorists deploying unmanned aerial vehicles to strike at vital installations in India. Gen Naravane said that there was a need for shedding old mindsets and make procedures "more flexible" and "adaptive" to bring in changes and incorporate niche technologies like artificial technologies to deal with emerging challenges and prepare for future wars.