The Fourth Edition of the Tri-Services Future Warfare Course commenced at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on 3 August 2026, with the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), General N.S. Raja Subramani, delivering the keynote address at the inaugural session.

In his address, the CDS focused on the changing character of warfare and the growing influence of emerging technologies on military operations. He emphasised the importance of anticipating future security challenges and developing the ability to respond effectively across multiple operational domains.

The CDS highlighted the increasing role of artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities, autonomous systems, information warfare, space technologies and data-driven decision-making in shaping future conflicts. He also stressed the need for greater jointness, integration and collaboration between the defence forces, industry, academia and the research community to strengthen national defence preparedness.

Conducted by the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), this four-week course will bring together officers from the three Services along with representatives from government, industry, academia and strategic institutions. During the programme, participants will deliberate on subjects covering geopolitics, emerging technologies, cognitive and cyber warfare, multi-domain operations, scenario-building and technology-enabled warfare.