The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is nearing the announcement of merging the three armed services, and discussions at the ongoing AI Summit 2026 have highlighted the need for a ‘Joint Military Artificial Intelligence (AI) Command’. This command would provide a sovereign platform to leverage advanced technologies for future battlefields.
During a seminar titled “Engineering Support for the Indian Army: Smartising the Kill Chain,” Sreeram Ananthasayanam from Deloitte India emphasized that AI will reshape warfare. He stressed the importance of safeguarding national interests and strategic independence by developing indigenous applications to avoid reliance on imports.
Ananthasayanam called for establishing a ‘Defence AI Mission’ led by the government to create an all-encompassing framework tailored for India. This initiative would focus on building a ‘sovereign AI defence platform’ and implementing it through the ‘Joint Military AI Command’. Additionally, he proposed launching an ‘AI warriors program’ to enhance troops’ capabilities for future warfare and exploring public-private partnerships for capacity building.
Lt Gen Rajiv Kumar Sahni, Directorate General of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, discussed how AI can enhance operational precision by converting sensor data into actionable insights, predicting threats, and upgrading weapon systems. He emphasized the importance of integrating AI into unmanned aerial systems and robotic platforms to gain an edge in future conflicts.
Major General Mohit Gandhi highlighted the challenge of modernizing legacy Army equipment into smart systems. He stressed that while these systems lack advanced features like AI and predictive diagnostics, they are reliable and share logistical commonalities with current resources.
The focus is on transforming existing systems with future technologies to improve accuracy, decision-making, mission awareness, and safety without compromising existing manpower. Other speakers at the event shared expertise on scalable AI architectures, governance frameworks, reliability modeling, and practical applications of AI in critical missions.