Fighting tomorrow's wars: Technology or boots on the ground?

Since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in 2022, one has increasingly heard from military experts, strategic analysts and ministers that modern warfare is becoming increasingly technology-driven and that traditional man-to-man combat is gradually coming down. The raging Middle East conflict, now in its second month, has so far featured no ground combat. There are, however, reports in the last few days that the United States is preparing for a ground invasion of Iran.  

On 24 March, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at a meeting with top military officials that the operational and technological lessons from the ongoing conflict should be studied to improve India's own preparedness.

Asked what lessons could be drawn from the recent conflicts where the battles have mostly been in the air, Indian Air Force's former chief Birender Singh Dhanoa, drawing an analogy from chess, told The Indian Express, "The air battle has always been the opening gambit in these conflicts. But it can achieve a lot only if it is coupled with a ground campaign."

He said, "The liberation of Bangladesh and the Iraq war of 2003 are the best examples of how a change of regime was carried out by ground forces operating in an environment of air superiority."

India's Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said at an event in New Delhi on 15 March that the nature of warfare is rapidly changing and is increasingly becoming technology-driven, where traditional man-to-man combat is gradually decreasing and advanced technologies are playing a decisive role in strategic preparedness and national security.

The Russia-Ukraine faceoff, the India-Pakistan conflict in May last year and the US-Israeli war on Iran have so far remained battles in the air. 

In August last year, Rajnath Singh said India successfully utilised cutting-edge apparatus like drones, layered air defence, electronic warfare and network-centric operation during India's 88-hour military conflict with Pakistan in May 2025.

He said "Operation Sindoor" that came in the backdrop of the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in April last year was carried out by the armed forces as a balanced military response amid the asymmetric warfare being witnessed across the globe. He termed India's actions during the operation as an example of a precise and successful military strategy and a glimpse of a new vision, technological advancements and self-reliance.

A message coming out clearly is that the use of technology has ensured that countries are no longer bound by traditional geographical boundaries. It has prompted them to opt for modern technology, accurate intelligence and smart military strategies.

However, Chief of India's Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan has a different take. According to him, there is no substitute for boots on the ground, as technology can only be an enabler which cannot replace people. Gen Chauhan said technology cannot replace people and "I think that is very important."

Highlighting ways to deal with new-age conflicts, Gen Chauhan, in an address at the Raisina Dialogue, India's flagship conference on geopolitics, on 19 March, said imparting appropriate training to military personnel to deal with hybrid warfare along with conventional war is a big challenge for the country.

The CDS said India has been facing the "asymmetric threat," which "we have always called it a sub-conventional kind of a conflict. We invented this particular term much before the West invented terms like global war on terror or asymmetric warfare or fourth generation warfare or hyper conflicts."

"We have called it conflict below the threshold of conventional conflict and the lesson is that there is no substitute for boots on the ground," Gen Chauhan opined.