Developing 'space culture' key as space is emerging as new domain of warfare: CDS

New Delhi | Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Monday said humanity is on the "cusp of an era" where space is emerging as a new domain of warfare.

He pitched for developing a "space culture" which could entail developing doctrines, research and dedicated warfare schools.

In his inaugural address at the third edition of the Indian DefSpace Symposium here, Chauhan said it is important that "Services also have their own space warfare schools in the near future".

Underlining how the military ethos has evolved over the centuries with maritime and aerospace cultures playing significant roles in warfare, the CDS said in the past, "a seafaring culture or a maritime culture" may have held the Portuguese, Spaniard, the English or the Dutch to dominate the world.

"Similarly, the aerospace culture led to the domination of air space by the US and European nations. And both the domains have a lasting impact on warfare. Military power was actually centred around this particular culture getting developed and creation of capabilities towards that," the CDS added.

"And today we are on the cusp of an era where space is emerging as a new domain of warfare, and it is going to dominate warfare. All the three primary elements of warfare (land, sea, air) will depend on space," General Chauhan said.

The general explained that while the maritime domain expanded warfare, the outcome of the battle could either be decided in the maritime domain or it had a "major influence on battle on land".

"So did when air power become a major instrument of fighting war. Either you decide the battle in the air space or have a "large effect on battle on land or the maritime domain," he added.

"So, when we say that space is going to have an impact on these three elements, it is important that we understand space. This is going to form the basic building blocks of warfare in future," Chauhan said.

"Hence, before we develop those kind of capabilities, developing that kind of culture to talk about space -- the space culture -- is important," he said.

The CDS underlined that space culture is about "new ideas on the use of space", which will "leap forward" to creation of new capabilities.

Detailing the aspects of the space culture, he said, "Physical capabilities grow from the ideas that you generate. So generation of ideas is very important. Space culture is, doing seminal research on warfare. It is about the development of doctrines and strategies about space," he said.

Space culture is about development of subjects like space laws, or a framework for space diplomacy, the CDS added.

He said that while scope for developing the space culture is vast, there is very less literature on it currently.

"Building a space culture is not about creating new start-ups on space. It is also about space journals, articles, space warfare institutes and societies that ideate on it," he said, adding, "I think there is an important need that Services also have their own space warfare schools in the near future." The CDS asserted that as Indians, and as a culture that respects space through knowledge and research, it is important that "we need to reposition ourselves." The Indian DefSpace Symposium was hosted by Indian Space Associated (ISpA) at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

In his address, the CDS said talking about space, cosmos or cosmology is always exciting.

"Space is a very futuristic topic. It is fascinating and thought-provoking. It also opens up your imagination," he said.

Referring to space movies and series such as Interstellar and Star Trek, the general said, "Most of us have grown watching movies on space and space travel. And most of them are about interplanetary and intergalactic space in realms of fantasy. That is one part where our imagination goes wild and one part where it is reality." He recalled that during the first edition of the symposium, he had spoken about the "convergence of various domains of warfare" and how space is enhancing warfare capabilities in these domains.

"And, during the second conference, I had briefly outlined the vision of the armed forces for evolving the role of space in future warfare," the CDS said.