Lalit Khambhayata
'This is the beginning of technological warfare and a glimpse of what future wars will look like.' This sentence sums up what defense experts around the world said after the pager and walkie-talkie attacks in Lebanon last week. A lesson to be learned from the attack is that there are certain technologies which, if disabled, automatically stop the operations of the enemy country. Underwater Cables More than 90 percent of the world's data is carried by underwater cables. After the Internet reaches the coast, it reaches us through cable-towers etc. 15 lakh kilometers of such cables are laid at the bottom of the sea. America has often complained that Russia has cut our cable or that China wants to cut our cable. On the other hand, several countries are also active in cutting underwater cables. This is a very easy way to trick an enemy country.
In July, a cyber attack stopped more than 85 lakh devices using Microsoft operating systems around the world. CrowdStrike, a company that provides services to Microsoft, was in turmoil. If someone creates a fake social media account using our photo, it is a cyber attack. As our dependence on technology increases, technology also becomes our sore vein. When one steps on that rug, trouble is not without. It is certain that as technology develops, the incidence of stepping on the rug will increase. So if you want to defeat a country, it is enough to hack its systems. Russia-China routinely make such accusations.
Drone attacks America has killed more than 2 thousand terrorists by carrying out a number of drone attacks in Pakistan. In 2020, Iranian military general Qassem Soleimani shot down an Israeli drone. Iran turned Israel's bed in April 2024 by simultaneously sending 185 drones. Talking about foreign countries, drone attacks have started happening in our Manipur as well. Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles have changed the definition of warfare over the last decade. What is going on now is the regular and unprecedented use of drones in the Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Palestine wars.
Satellites have many other uses besides satellite internet. Navigation i.e. direction finding, communication, railway-ships, weather forecasting, earth observation, town planning etc. are satellite based. Satellites also contribute a lot to national security, as countries including India have spy satellites. Apart from all other satellite related services, the global image business alone is around $4 billion. On the other hand, the countries of the world are getting equipped with anti-satellite weapons. Therefore, a whole satellite can be launched by launching a missile from the earth. Four countries have such a triple, India, America, Russia and China.
Semiconductor The government is pushing hard to make semiconductor chips in India. Why? Because a country that can make semiconductor chips can survive in the technological eco-system. The chip has been dubbed the 'new-age petroleum'. Laptops, mobiles, cars, smartwatches, CCTV, medical devices, washing machines, LED lights, 5G related equipments… and many other things that we use are powered by semiconductor chips. If an average person uses two or three small gadgets, it can be said that he uses so many chips. If the chip exporting country refuses to export, it is certain that the opposite country's economy will collapse. That is why the government wants to bring self-reliance in it.
Rare Earth Minerals Rare earth minerals/elements are a group of 17 metals. Holium, neodymium, gadolinium, europium, cerium.. are names we don't usually hear. There is no question of seeing, but it is certain that without it our life does not go on. All these metals are the lifeblood of the digital age. Batteries, medical equipment, rocket-aircraft engines, lasers, X-ray machines, nuclear reactors, microwaves… there are many things in which these metals are indispensable. This metal is not a technology, but if the country that has it stops exporting, the shop of many countries will be closed. China has the largest stock of this metal. India has very limited quantity. We are dependent on other countries.
If there is a war in the future, it will probably be silent like silent movies. There is no need for melee bullets, firing from guns like the Bofors or planes like the Tejas-Miraj taking to the skies. Sitting in a bunker in a secret location, the defense experts will do nothing but identify the enemy and give orders to attack while watching the big screen. Then attack with a pager or death in the form of a drone from the head. Also, hackers will hack into enemy country's systems and stop all their operations. Such a situation seen in movies has arrived. The fighters who are not ready for this will be the first to be beaten.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
