‘The future isn’t manned vs unmanned’

The broader lesson is modern warfare increasingly depends on integration, says Air Marshal (Retd.) Anil Chopra

- Javaria Rana

OPERATION Sindoor put India’s air power doctrine to a live test. Fighters, loitering munitions, precision-strike weapons and integrated air defences all delivered results.

But broader questions linger. A shrinking fighter squadron strength, delays in indigenous programmes and the prospect of an adversary inducting a stealth fighter before India’s own is ready have sharpened debate over the future of air power. Air Marshal (Retd.) Anil Chopra, former Director General of Centre for Aerospace Power and Strategic Studies and former Commandant of Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, spoke to Javaria Rana on a range of issues shaping the future. Excerpts:

Drones are increasingly taking on missions once performed by manned platforms. How do you assess this shift?

Whenever a new technology emerges, people tend to declare older platforms obsolete. We saw that during the Russia-Ukraine war when drones destroyed tanks and many argued that tanks had become irrelevant. Yet countries continue to build and modernise tanks. Similarly, after missile strikes on ships in the Black Sea, some predicted the end of surface platforms. But navies continue to invest heavily in them. The future is not manned versus unmanned. It is man-unmanned teaming or MUM-T. Humans will remain on-the-loop, if not always in-the-loop, especially in high-end combat ops.

Fighters will increasingly operate alongside loyal wingmen and autonomous systems, supported by greater stealth, networking, 360-degree battlespace awareness and next-gen weapons. The US Air Force has itself said that by 2040 there may be no role that unmanned systems cannot perform. But that does not mean manned aircraft will disappear. The future lies in balancing both.

Op Sindoor was a live test of modern air power. What did it tell us about drone warfare?