The fact that an action which should have ended in three weeks has stretched beyond a year, is an indication that when it comes to territorial conflicts, unfortunately, the brute force of war becomes the inescapable recourse to decide the outcome.
While the Ukraine-Russia conflict has grabbed headlines, there are other covert wars involving salami slicing and outright terrorism. Thus, all countries are forced to invest in assets to detect and thwart overt and covert moves to forcibly enforce asymmetric territorial claims. The desire for global domination also leads to conflicts through proxies.
In this situation, a peaceful country like India has no choice but to commit limited resources to building up a defensive deterrence mechanism encompassing land, sea, air, and now space. Till recently, India eschewed joining military alliances but current events have led it to join the Quad to protect its interests in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and along the Western, Northern and North-eastern land borders.
What strength does India bring to the Quad?
The US has 200 to 300 satellites in orbit for supporting military operations globally. China, the main concern of the Quad, has a similar number. India has ten to fifteen satellites dedicated for military use. It also uses civilian satellite resources as well which may add another five to ten satellites. India is very weak in ELINT and SIGINT, having launched only two experimental satellites.
While the US and China have thriving industries that are able to manufacture and deploy these resources on a continuous basis, India is solely dependent on ISRO and its supporting industries.
The US has a dedicated military organization, the Space Force, While China has the PLA Strategic Support Force. In contrast, the Indian Defense Space Agency and the Defense Space Research Agency were set up in late 2019, but still continue to be works-in-progress.
While there is a very good understanding of what the needs are for establishing a space-based defense system, the problem lies in the lack of the necessary infrastructure to design, build and deploy the components of the system.
The missile systems are manufactured by Bharat Dynamics, but when it comes to satellites, the DSA looks to ISRO which does not have a military mandate. It is imperative that with the New Space Policy regime, the private industry needs to get into the act and become a major supplier to the military services.
Disclaimer: Views Expressed are Author's Own. Geospatial World May or May Not Endorse it
