India's Military Modernization: Building Underground Infrastructure and Strengthening Air Defense

The early hours of May 7 will mark one year of Operation Sindoor , a strike by the Indian armed forces on terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan followed by hostilities between the two countries over four days. A year since, the Indian military has focused on two significant aspects: large-scale construction of underground infrastructure and the establishment of a strong air defence system. Learning from Operation Sindoor and ongoing global conflicts, several changes are being considered, covering deployment of troops and equipment, acquisition of new technology and weapons, among them a range of drones and counter-drone systems, and newer ways of fighting wars. Multiple officials across the defence establishment told The Indian Express that the construction of large-scale underground infrastructure has been a major focus of the military, alongside the implementation of other passive measures such as dispersal of assets and formations, increased concealment and camouflage, and force preservation efforts. According to officials, work on the construction of underground command and control centres, starting with the Army’s Command and Corps Headquarters level and later at divisional and lower levels, has been underway. These underground command centres will be equipped with C4I2SR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Information, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), which can be shared among all services on a secure network. A C4I2SR is an integrated system that enables military commanders to achieve situational awareness and coordination, thus aiding decision-making superiority in operations across domains. An underground command and control center will enable military commanders to lead operations securely during active conflict. Other underground infrastructure to be constructed will include limited medical facilities, living bunkers designed for long-term habitation during wars and other disasters, ammunition and FOL (Fuel, Oil, Lubricants) and rations storage facilities in forward locations along the borders, as well as in depth areas. Officials said that construction of 3D-printed bunkers, which are quick to make, resilient and can easily be relocated, will also form part of the country’s underground infrastructure. It is also learnt that the focus is also on the creation of additional underground infrastructure along the western borders, so as to make daily routine operations resilient to wars or disasters, a key element of which is the hardened bunker. Aside from the construction of underground military infrastructure, the creation of dual-use infrastructure such as airfields, highways and roads connecting strategic areas closer to borders has also emerged as a key priority. For instance, the Indian Air Force (IAF) last month conducted an emergency landing field activation drill on the Purvanchal Expressway in Sultanpur in UP. Fighters, including the Su-30MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, and C295 transport aircraft, participated in the drill. Several airfields across the country, including those closer to the borders, have been opened for civil use. Drawing from the lessons of Operation Sindoor, during which Pakistan sent swarms of low-cost drones to India, and also from the Israel-US and Iran war, in which Iranians launched drones and missiles towards Israel and US bases in the Gulf countries, strengthening air defence has been a key focus of the armed forces. While there are moves to establish a comprehensive air defence shield across the country under the Sudarshan Chakra mission – a panel under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) recently submitted a pre-feasibility report on the project – work has also begun on enhancing the existing Akashteer cover of the Army. An indigenous, automated Air Defence Control and Reporting System of the Army, Akashteer can be easily integrated with the IACCS (Indian Air Force) and TRIGUN (Indian Navy), creating a clear and real-time picture of the battlefield. The IAF’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) is an automated command and control system that integrates data from all air defence assets to detect, identify, intercept, and destroy hostile intruders. Akashteer is vehicle-mounted and highly mobile, therefore ideal for deployment in dangerous and active war zones. There has also been large-scale procurement of counter-UAS systems – many of these will be integrated with legacy weapon systems of the armed forces – which are cheaper to operate, yet accurate and will help optimise the use of ammunition. The Indian Express had reported earlier that even during Operation Sindoor, when Pakistan sent swarms of cheap drones into Indian territory while camouflaging some armed and surveillance drones, the legacy air defence systems, such as the L/70 guns, were used to shoot them down. These weapons systems will now be further integrated with the new anti-drone systems being procured. Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari (retd), who was Vice Chief of Air Staff during Operation Sindoor, told The Indian Express that India managed to defend all its bases from Pakistan’s attacks during Operation Sindoor due to its robust, layered air defence shield already in place, but that will continue to evolve. Underlining that detection is a key component of air defence, he said the idea is to get the information as quickly as possible. “Getting more advanced and specialised sensors and radars that pick up information about incoming threats, covering everything from ballistic missiles to small drones, will be the way forward towards strengthening air defence,” he said. He said it may not be feasible to defend every piece of land against all weapon systems, so the deployment of air defence assets should focus on prioritising what is most important to protect. Aside from plans to procure sophisticated sensors and radars, the Indian military has, since last year, prioritised procurement of counter-UAS systems. India has also been planning to procure more S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. The DRDO has been developing Project Kusha, an indigenous long-range surface-to-air missile system to protect strategic military and civilian assets and infrastructure from a range of aerial threats. On the military’s focus on offensive air defence, Air Marshal Tiwari said the idea of a robust air defence infrastructure is not only to deny the enemy from hitting any Indian target, but also to deny him from using the airspace of his own country for launching any attack. The S-400s, the Kusha and even the MRSAMs (medium-range surface-to-air missiles) can act as offensive air defence systems based on how they are deployed, he said. Last year, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh disclosed that among the targets destroyed on May 7 was a large Pakistani airborne platform, possibly an ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) or AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft, taken down from a distance of about 300 km. He described it as the “largest-ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about”. Such a long-range kill involves a long-range interceptor missile, a surface-to-air missile designed to destroy airborne targets at distances well beyond visual range, steady precision tracking and the ability to maintain a firing solution until impact. The IAF acquired this capability recently, with the induction of the Russian-made S-400 Triumf system.