India Building AI Spine for Armed Forces, Says Defence Secretary

India is constructing an artificial intelligence backbone for its armed forces to prepare for future warfare, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has said, adding that the military made partial use of AI during Operation Sindoor.

Speaking at a defence summit in Delhi, Singh said efforts were made during the operation — India's counterstrike against terrorist havens in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack — to give the Army the extra computing capacity needed for AI applications. That work, he said, has since advanced considerably.

"We are building an AI spine for the armed forces," Singh said. The Navy is developing its own system, while the Army is in the process of partnering with industry, and the effort is being coordinated with the National AI Mission to make the capability available across the services.

Singh said the government had at one stage considered teaming up with a foreign technology provider, naming data analytics firm Palantir as an example, but decided against it because of the sensitivity of the domain. The volume of data involved made it essential to build the capability domestically, he said, and the forces are well on their way to tying up with Indian industry partners.

Palantir's Project Maven, an AI-backed system developed for the Pentagon, is among the better-known examples of such technology in modern warfare.

Earlier at the same event, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the armed forces are continuously strengthening their capabilities and preparedness across every dimension, citing advanced technologies such as AI, quantum computing and hypersonics. He also pointed to initiatives to promote advanced defence technology, including the setting up of a Defence AI Council. The DRDO has established a research centre to advance indigenous quantum capabilities, and a policy framework for the field has been issued, he said.