The character of warfare is evolving, with the increasing use of emerging technologies on the modern battlefield. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one such technology being employed by militaries around the world. Building on this momentum, India also claims to have employed AI during the 2025 Indo-Pak crisis.
New Delhi’s claim is an unprecedented development in South Asia, given that India had not previously officially acknowledged the use of AI in its military operations. As a result, in future military campaigns, the Indian military will likely employ AI on a larger scale, from surveillance to AI-powered weapon systems. This will pose challenges for Pakistan.
On October 6, Lt. Gen. Rajiv Kumar, director general of the Indian Army’s Electronics and Mechanical Engineers Corps, revealed that “AI was extensively used for multi-sensor and multi-source data fusion in real time during Operation Sindoor.” He claimed that with the help of AI, the Indian army was able to precisely identify, prioritize, locate, and engage targets with a success rate of almost 94 percent. Various AI-enabled systems were used in this regard.
For instance, to acquire a “common surveillance picture” of the battlefield, the Indian Army integrated the Trinetta system with the Battlefield Surveillance System (BSS), commonly known as Sanjay. AI-driven Sanjay, along with “Trinetra,” integrated data from multiple ground-based and airborne sensors, providing military commanders with enhanced battlefield situational awareness that assisted in making swift decisions during their duel with Pakistan, according to official claims. Kumar said that the BSS used “Edge AI,” which allowed it to process data and support decision-making locally, without dependence on distant servers. Moreover, Edge AI receives processing power directly on the platform, whether in a drone or in a soldier’s kit, ensuring systems continue to function when the network is jammed.
The Indian Army also employed the indigenously developed Electronic Intelligence Collation and Analysis System (ECAS) to identify and prioritize immediate threats in real-time. This AI model was trained on 26 years of data gathered by India’s intelligence agencies and military. The archival data, which made this AI tool effective according to Kumar, consisted of information collected regarding Pakistan’s military sensors, their frequencies, and electronic signatures, as well as the locations where they had frequently visited in the past and their parent units. During the May 2025 conflict, according to the Indian Army, this AI-based ECAS achieved 94 percent accuracy in identifying various radars, missile units, and other systems that emit electronic signatures.
During the four-day conflict, the Indian army also claimed to have employed 23 additional AI applications. One of them was “Anuman 2.0,” which enabled real-time weather forecasting up to 48 hours in advance with precision within a 200-kilometer radius along Pakistan’s border, helping the artillery regiments of the Indian army direct precise fire on Pakistani positions. Additionally, AI-enabled drones were also employed in the conflict to provide a real-time data feed with no delay.
The availability of AI tools and their operationalization during the conflict did not happen out of the blue. Prior to the employment of AI during Operation Sindoor, AI was used in various field exercises to provide a cohesive picture to the combat commanders by merging data from the ISR sensors deployed during the maneuvers. One prime example is the Exercise Dakshin Shakti conducted by the Indian Army’s Southern Command in 2021, which involved more than 30,000 troops. On the other hand, the Indian Army also demonstrated its capability to deploy AI-enabled drone swarms as early as 2023.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, on October 7, 2025, said that modern warfare relies not only on weapons but also on the influence of cutting-edge technologies, such as AI. This indicates that New Delhi will invest more in the field of AI and will equip its military with AI-enabled systems.
The work has already begun, with one prime example being SAKSHAM, which employs AI for counter-drone operations and is currently operational with the Indian Army. These developments indicate that in the days ahead, with increasing Indian investment in the CATS Warrior Program, the SBS-III satellite project, and drone swarms, AI will soon be integrated into military systems on a large scale. The Indian military will use AI not only for surveillance purposes and data collection, but also to play a crucial role in determining which target is to be eliminated first.
New Delhi’s official position opposes placing a ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). At the 79th U.N. General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, India abstained from voting on Draft Resolution L.77 on LAWS. In December 2023, India voted against U.N. General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on LAWS. Given India’s position and its extensive use of AI in the May 2025 conflict, it is likely that India will develop, manufacture, and deploy AI-led weapons, such as missiles armed with AI and LAWS, on the battlefield.
The claims made by the Indian general pertaining to AI’s deployment and its potential success during Operation Sindoor cannot be independently verified due to the scarcity of data. However, these claims should be taken seriously by Pakistan. In response, Islamabad must not only invest in indigenous AI capabilities but also boost its electronic and cyber warfare capabilities simultaneously. The former will enable Pakistan to balance India in the AI domain, while the latter will help neutralize the AI systems operated by New Delhi.
While integrating AI with military platforms, Pakistan can follow a human-in-the-loop approach for AI-driven ISR systems and a human-on-the-loop approach for kinetic systems, such as drones, which allows them to complete their missions in a hostile electronic warfare environment. However, Islamabad is likely to avoid deploying LAWS even if New Delhi does, because Pakistan, unlike India, opposes LAWS. Islamabad believes that LAWS can dramatically limit human casualties for the attacking state, which lowers the threshold for the use of force and thus affects both regional and global stability.
