Effective management and exploitation of air littoral become an imperative: Gen Dwivedi

New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) Conflicts in the recent past have demonstrated the effectiveness of unmanned aerial systems and counter-UAS for exploiting the airspace just above the land battle area, and an effective management and exploitation of this air littoral has become an "imperative", Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi said on Tuesday.

In his address at a tri-services symposium held at the Manekshaw Centre here, he also said the recent geopolitical environment has also "clearly established that strategic autonomy will always be contingent upon 'Atmanirbharta' (self-reliance)".

The inaugural edition of the Tri-Services Academia Technology Symposium (T-SATS) aims at synergising the services-academia R&D ecosystem for development of niche and futuristic technologies tailored for the Indian armed forces.

"I think, this forum, besides this.. is also a signal. A signal that Indian defence forces rely on indigenous intellectual academic research capabilities to develop home-grown technology that empowers our soldiers, protects our borders, and upholds our sovereignty," the Army chief said.

He asserted that Operation Sindoor has "amply showcased" the great, positive impact of self-reliant technology.

"The recent geopolitical environment has also clearly established that strategic autonomy will always be contingent upon 'Atmanirbharta'," he added.

The Army chief said while "we have demonstrated the indigenous capabilities, we need to further invest in niche technology and graduate from experimentation enterprise, scale and implementation".

Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman Samir V Kamat were also present on the dais.

In his address, Gen Dwivedi also emphasised on the significance of air littoral -- the airspace just above the land battle area -- also used by drones and counter-drone systems.

"Conflicts in the recent past have demonstrated that the effectiveness of the unmanned aerial systems, and counter-UAS for exploiting the airspace, just above the land battle area. An effective management and exploitation of this space, which is known as air littoral, has become an imperative," he said.

With persistence presence of the weapon, radar system, artillery, missiles, unmanned aerial systems, C-UAS (Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems), this space "needs exploitation" as well as efficient management, including that of the electromagnetic spectrum.

"We need a de novo innovative solution for force application and force preservation in this limited space of air littoral," the Army chief said.

In his address, he shared that the Army has commenced the "first Army internship programme this year", and an encouraging response, 60 young minds selected out of over 50,000 applicants.

"We will take this ahead in a bigger way next year," Gen Dwivedi said.

He also underlined that there is a need to establish defence R&D-oriented universities, in accordance with National Education Policy 2020, and also create "defence incubation cells" in academic institutions under the mentorship of armed forces.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan on Monday inaugurated the symposium.

In his address, the CDS emphasised the critical role of academia, start-ups and industry in developing indigenous capabilities across platforms, weapons, networks and doctrines to meet future operational demand.

The Army chief in his remarks said although, collaboration between academia and forces have been existing for ages, there "still remains significant untapped potential".

To harness this, a portal was launched ahead of the event to connect with researchers, academic institutes across the country, and the response was "phenomenal," he said.

"Now, what we have to look at, how this knowledge can be converted into a product, and it had to be commercialised," Gen Dwivedi said.

So, over last two days, "we have gained insights into strengths and challenges" of the academic research and development ecosystem thorough seminars, panel discussions and one-on-one meetings.

"This symposium has served as a powerful platform for scholars and researchers to present their innovations, successfully fulfilling our aim to identify promising military or dual-use case, and guide innovators in translating concepts into impactful outcomes," he added.

He pitched for "greater collaboration" among the troika of 'AIM' (Academia, Industry and Military), and said the "We are ready to fund and mentor promising innovations including those from tier 2 and 3 institutes". PTI KND ZMN