Battle ready for the 21st century

The book Battle Ready for the 21st Century has endeavoured to postulate and define emerging areas of conflict, desired capabilities and doctrinal issues that need careful examination. The authors with hands on experience and domain specialisation have endeavoured to define and suggest the ways and means necessary to secure India from emerging security challenges on land, air, sea, space, cyber domain and even cognitive domain. The notion of victory in the 21st Century has undergone a profound change as highlighted in recent conflicts across the globe. The conventional land forces in Indian context still remain irreplaceable to capture, hold and deny ground to the adversaries, as a result focus remains on land forces especially while dealing with the threat from China and Pakistan. Notwithstanding this reality, domain specialists have identified maritime, air and space challenges along with capabilities required to fight and win multi domain conflicts. The essays have imaginatively covered grey zone conflict, urban warfare and mountain warfare, along with dynamic military strategies to secure India. The “Two Front” dilemma is no longer an illusion, but an ongoing reality. For too long the ISR domain has remained an Achilles heel for India, the author of this essay has identified the gaps and suggested pragmatic measures to overcome these. The important aspect of doctrinal innovation has rightly been linked to visionary leadership and aligned to professional military education.