DailyPost 1737
TECH – THE GAME CHANGER – FOR GOOD & FOR BAD
If you are not in control of the technology or you are not ready to battle it out, the world henceforth can never be yours. If technology overawes you and you get caught unawares over and over again, then there are certainly very serious issues, with the people, organisations and the systems. You cannot catch up with technology at will. The pace of scientific and technological development and the rules, laws and conventions safeguarding it, will always ensure that you remain a second-grade player, if you are not a part of its development. If somebody else will give you the solution, then the only thing you get is a black box and you will not be able to do any customization or upgradation. You can just be a user of those pre-determined limitations.
Solutions which we are desperately looking for now, in the wake of the Jammu IAF base drone attack takes years of effort of stitching technology solutions as per the requirements. The requirements too keep changing as the technology progresses. It is easier said than done. Two things should be kept in mind is that it is a battle of attrition in technological development / advancement* and that defensive cover for an all-pervasive technology like the drone means bringing in large number of tech elements together, making them into a solution and then has to be improved upon on a regular basis. The catching game is the order of the day. If you get into this mode, you get into the league of successful countries who have been able to take the lead and maintain it. Ironically, most are not that way.
US and a large number of other countries have reaped the benefits of investing in tech research is not a hidden story. What defence / academic / research complex can deliver is known the world over. Staying on with the same reliable industry partners delivers wonderful results is also known. You have to be abreast with the technology to be abreast with the enemy is the mantra of the war in the tech age. Only such an effort can provide you the tech intuition, intelligence and guts to call out the impending danger and get ready for it. That is not fear mongering. Tech preparation in peace gives the best results is also too well known, because it requires undiluted attention of the powers who actually need it.
The ease at which a cheap drone can be transformed into a military weapon, having the capability to stealthily get deep into an air base, inflict damage without a trace is what tech prowess is all about. The warning signs were all over, from the Caracas drone attack of 2018, the Gatwick airport drone sightings, the Aramco incident and the killings in vicinity of the Baghdad International Airport. The drone story in the Azerbaijan success and its implications for the future of modern warfare has been discussed in the recent past. The battle of Kamikaze drones of Hamas against the might of Israeli Iron Dome interceptor system would be finding its place in the annals of warfare. In this ascendency of drone as a potent weapon, it was just a matter to time, when was the only question left to be answered, which happened with the Jammu drone attack.
THOSE WHO PAINSTAKINGLY DEVELOP AND TEST TECHNOLOGY IN PEACE, DON’T BLEED IN WAR.