PIB TrackerThe armed forces sit down to study the next war
The fourth Tri-Services Future Warfare Course opens in New Delhi, covering artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, cyber and cognitive warfare, grey-zone operations and multi-domain warfare.
What happened
- The 4th Tri-Services Future Warfare Course begins at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi, on 3 August 2026.
- It is a four-week course under Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff.
- The Centre for Joint Warfare Studies coordinates it.
- Participants span all three Services plus government, academia, industry and think-tanks.
- Topics include AI, quantum technologies, cyber and cognitive warfare, autonomous systems, grey-zone and multi-domain operations.
For Prelims
- HQ IDS: Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff — the tri-service body under the Chief of Defence Staff.
- CENJOWS: the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, the think-tank coordinating the course.
- Multi-domain operations: coordinated action across land, sea, air, space and cyber.
- Grey-zone operations: coercion below the threshold of open war — proxies, disinformation, economic pressure.
- Cognitive warfare: targeting perception and decision-making rather than only physical assets.
- Context: India's move toward theatre commands and integrated tri-service structures.
For UPSC: A defence-reform item. Use it for jointness and theatre commands, emerging military technologies (AI, quantum, autonomous systems), grey-zone and information warfare, and civil-military-academic integration in strategic thinking.
What it is NOT: This is a professional military education course, not a doctrine document or a restructuring announcement.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS3.20 · GS3.12 · Linkage L1
Anchor
Preparing for a war that will not look like the last one — jointness taught, not assumed.
Substantiation (data)
A four-week tri-service course under HQ IDS covering AI, quantum, cyber and cognitive warfare, autonomous systems, grey-zone and multi-domain operations.
Exemplification
Mixing serving officers with academia, industry and think-tanks builds the civil-military bridge that technology-led warfare demands.
Problematisation
Education alone cannot deliver jointness — theatre commands, procurement reform and doctrine must follow.
Way-forward
Institutionalise joint professional military education alongside theatre commands and indigenous technology absorption.
Position
The threats that fall between services and between war and peace need officers trained to think across both boundaries.
Deploys into: Security forces + indigenisation (GS3.20, GS3.12) · jointness and theatre commands, emerging military technologies, and grey-zone and multi-domain warfare.
Ministry of Defence · 2026-08-02 · PRID 2293425 · PIB source ↗