Kalam asks soldiers to prepare for e-warfare

President APJ Abdul Kalam today called upon young officers of the Indian Army to become 8220;knowledge workers8221; to equip themselves for the electronically controlled warfare of the future.

President APJ Abdul Kalam today called upon young officers of the Indian Army to become 8220;knowledge workers8221; to equip themselves for the electronically controlled warfare of the future. Kalam said today8217;s soldiers must train in virtual reality-based simulated warfronts like space attack, chemical attack, nuclear attack and electronic encounters and practise counter-measures.

The President was addressing gentlemen cadets of the 119th regular course and other allied courses of the Indian Military Academy IMA after the passing out parade today. A total of 569 cadets, including 15 from Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan, graduated from the academy. Prakash Ramachandran was awarded the 8220;sword of honour8221; for being adjudged the best overall cadet of the academy.

Exhorting the cadets to prepare for technology-driven warfare, Kalam said the whole war environment of the future would be network-centric, controlled electronically with space, deep sea and ballistic missile encounters. He further said the future battlefield would require synergised team work with joint services operation and use of land, aero-space and ocean as important war theatres. 8220;The future soldiers will be knowledge workers,8221; he said.

The soldier in the frontlines, carrying maximum payload of weapons, life support systems and communication kits with minimum weight, would be a winner. 8220;Electronic warfare 8212; computers with intelligent software 8212; will fight in place of many strategic systems and will be more powerful, travelling at the speed of light to destroy economic capability, even exceeding the power of nuclear weapons,8221; he said. The soldier, he pointed out, should keep an eye on the global technological advancements in addition to keeping an eye on the borders.

Kalam hoped that the young officers passing out today would witness this type of technology-intensive battle during their service. 8220;National development and national security have to go together. You are a partner in all the national development missions,8221; he said.

Army Chief General JJ Singh, Uttaranchal Governor Sudarshan Aggarwal and Uttaranchal Chief Minister ND Tiwari were also present on the occasion. Later in the day, Kalam presided over the convocation of the Dev Sanskriti University at Hardwar.