Abstract
Twenty First Century dawned with the Global War on Terror (GWOT) by United States post 9/11 wherein American State was challenged by proxy group – Al Qaeda. With every new war, it was observed that the nature of war continued to be violent, however, the character fundamentally transformed from conventional ‘contact-kinetic engagements’ to complex ‘multi-domain operations’ primarily manifesting in non-contact-kinetic realm. The evolving character of modern conflict is marked by unrestricted exploitation of geography, widespread use of proxies, acceptable mass collateral destruction, democratisation of air littoral, significance of corporate driven defence industrial complex sustaining economy of war and AI- driven automated kill webs. Some nations are losing in the battle-field but still winning in the cognitive domain through carefully crafted and well calibrated information campaigns. The rules of conflict set out by United Nations post-World War II is gradually being rendered irrelevant by powerful as well as weak states.
The Indian Armed Forces are still adapting to its 2025 Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) doctrine, theaterisation plan and indigenisation through self- reliance as well as innovation (JAI). While progress is evident, gaps in cognitive warfare capability, space bound capacities, maritime strategy and air power still persists. This article ultimately aims to analyse the evolving character of warfare in 21st century and bring out relevant lessons for India.
Keywords: 21st Century Warfare, Multi-domain Operations, Automated Kill Webs, Corporate Generals, Civil-Military Fusion, Space Force, Economics of War, Cognitive Warfare
The article gives a clear, timely overview how war’s character have been shifted in the 21st Century -rom kinetic, force-on-force campaign to complex multi domain driven by informations, economics and technology. The critic of India’s progress on MDO doctrine, indegenisation and theatreisation is fair: meaningful advances exist, but gap remains in cognitive operations, space & integrated maritime-air capabilities.