C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) has revolutionised military operations in which the speed of information, advancements in technology, networking of organisations and specialist, will directly shape the success or failure of future military activities.

C4ISR is, thus, today as much a weapon or a tool to achieve asymmetry by decision dominance as any weapon platform. This capability would generate higher favourable force exchange ratios, enabled by superior shared situational awareness and coordinated precision engagements. The net desired outcome will be victory at lesser cost and minimum time by dominating the key factors of time, space, force and information.

The recent joint force structures of Space, Cyber and SF are the right steps in empowering the C4ISR enabled joint force concept. The raising of the Department of Military Affairs and appointment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) now opens vistas for an empowered decision-making body for force optimisation in terms of joint structures, doctrines, equipping and desired capabilities.

These combined with the lessons of Kargil, Doklam, Balakot and prevailing fragile situation on our disputed borders, mandates an integrated C4ISR networked decision support system, integrated with state-of-the-art targeting systems, as part of our joint force application. This article accordingly addresses the reality check, defines desired capability, identifies challenges, addresses the fundamentals and focus for capability development and visualises a way ahead for our future ready joint forces specific to C4ISR desired capabilities.

C4ISR Reality Check

Reality No 1: We have transited from the industrial age to the information age. Today, the world is becoming completely wireless, demanding uninterrupted access to information real time and anytime, and anywhere with better quality, high speed, increased bandwidth and reduction in cost, size, weight and power utilisation. Further a common media, virtual cloud storage and cellular wireless generation from 1G in 1980 to 5G or 6G is bringing about transformation.

In Operation Desert Storm, 5,42,000 US troops used 99 Mbps of satellite communication, whereas in Operation Iraqi Freedom, only 3,50,000 troops were deployed but used 3,200 Mbps of satellite communication — a 60-fold increase of bandwidth. The tracking and elimination of Osama bin Laden, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and recently, Qasem Soleimani are perfect examples of the power of C4ISR for precision targeting. Thus, the key determinant of success in future conflicts across the entire spectrum and surgical strikes will be information superiority and decision dominance rather than brute power.