Over the past two weeks, General Upendra Dwivedi has articulated a remarkably clear, coherent and forward-leaning vision for the modernisation of the Indian Army. Across three platforms, the Mechanised Forces Conference, subsequent briefings on operational preparedness, and finally the Chanakya Defence Dialogue  the Army Chief presented an integrated roadmap that blends technology, doctrine, personnel development, and jointness into a united agenda of transformation.

At the Cavalry Memorial Mechanised Forces Symposium on 11 Nov 2025, the Army Chief’s address offered a bold, forward-looking vision of what the Indian Army and Mechanised Forces in particular, must become by 2032. He argued that the very structure of warfare is shifting, raising foundational questions; Will artillery divisions replace pivot divisions? Will Signals emerge as a full domain-transcending arm? Will a future Rocket Force redefine deterrence? And, crucially, will Mechanised Forces evolve into something akin to a Carrier Battle Group on land, potent, indispensable, yet highly vulnerable? In this environment, infantry availability will shrink, “mass application” will decline, and “mass effect” generated through technology will become decisive. Yet, despite technological disruption, land and geography will remain the currency of victory for India due to its live borders.

He emphasised that Cavalry leaders must transition from Third-Generation manoeuvre warfare to a blended Fourth – Fifth Generation construct, dominated by multi-domain operations, where effects are synchronised across land, air, maritime, cyber, space and the electromagnetic spectrum. Each domain introduces unique demands e.g. air littoral threats require organic UAS, C-UAS and AAD; maritime terrain demands littoral fire and logistics preparedness; space and cyber will shape targeting, C2 protection, information gains and deep mining; and information warfare and psychological influence will be decisive in shaping perceptions.

Mechanised operations, he stressed, are no longer platform-centric but a “system-of-systems” fight, integrating tanks, light tanks, autonomous vehicles, rocket forces, drones, EW, cyber and information warriors across a battlespace whose depth may extend 200–400 km. Command and control must continuously balance centralisation with decentralised execution, while adapting between data-centric and network-centric modes depending on technology availability.

Key lessons from Ukraine, combined arms synergy at the lowest level, battlefield equalizers such as drones and EW, asymmetric tactics, and civil–military fusion must guide India’s transformation. Survivability will depend on active and passive protection, modularity, decoys, unmanned systems and signature management.

He concluded by urging cultural change, jointness, innovation, and breaking of silos, led not from the top, but driven by a bold and willing middle leadership ready to embrace the Army’s transformational journey toward 2032 and beyond.

Shortly after the conference, during operational briefings related to Operation Sindoor, the Army Chief illustrated the Army’s growing ability to integrate precision, speed and multi-domain coordination. Citing the remarkable execution of a “trusted orchestra” of sensors, platforms and fire units which hit nine targets in op and strat depth in just 22 minutes, he highlighted how jointness, teamwork and real-time coordination now form the backbone of modern combat. This served as a practical demonstration of his larger message that the Army’s modernisation is not just about new equipment, but about better integration, faster cycles, and harmonised operations across services and domains.

This operational lens fed directly into his statements at the Chanakya Defence Dialogue, where Dwivedi outlined the most strategic elements of his vision. He warned that the “era of long peace” is fading. The global order has entered a phase of deep uncertainty, marked by rapid technological disruption, grey-zone coercion, contested borders, and multi-domain threat vectors ranging from cyber and space to drones and information warfare. In such an environment, the Army cannot rely on manpower, legacy doctrine or incremental upgrades alone. Indian Army must become a modern, integrated, technology-driven, joint force.

Central to his vision is the “Reform to Transform” agenda, a structural shift aimed at reshaping the Army for the demands of 2040 and beyond. Gen Dwivedi emphasised that the Army’s transformation will draw energy from indigenous innovation, closer military-industry partnerships, and a whole-of-nation approach. He called explicitly for deeper engagement with startups, universities, research organisations, and private-sector companies to accelerate R&D, improve survivability technologies, build specialised payloads for drones, develop AI-enabled command-and-control systems, and strengthen the Army’s digital backbone.

But even as he championed indigenisation, Gen Dwivedi made a crucial distinction- capability cannot wait for industry. India must modernise at the speed of relevance, and that requires industry to rise to the Army’s specifications not the other way around. He argued that talent in frontier technologies like AI, cyber, robotics, and electronic warfare will be globally scarce, and India must build its own human capital to avoid dependence in the most sensitive domains.

At the Chanakya Dialogue, he once again underlined a doctrinal shift towards multi-domain operations (MDO). He argued that future war will not be fought in single-service stovepipes. Instead, it will be waged through a seamless network of land forces, air power, space-based ISR, cyber offensives, electromagnetic manoeuvers, and information dominance. This requires an integrated battle network, common data standards, secure communications, and rapid sensor-to-shooter loops. It also requires organisational reforms, theatre commands, unified logistics, and agile procurement systems to support a fluid, technology-driven concept of operations.

Across all his addresses, one consistent theme stood out and that is – people remain the Army’s greatest strength, but they must be technologically empowered. Training, talent development, AI literacy, cyber capability and leadership adaptation will be as important as hardware modernisation. The Chief’s approach places the Indian soldier at the heart of transformation, not by replacing him with machines, but by equipping him with the tools, networks and knowledge necessary to dominate a complex, lethal battlespace.

In sum, General Dwivedi’s recent speeches form the clearest articulation yet of a new Indian Army – one that will be technologically empowered, doctrinally flexible, organisationally integrated and operationally decisive. His message is not simply one of procurement or modernisation. It is a strategic call to rebuild the Army as a multi-domain force prepared for a turbulent century, anchored in indigenous strength but uncompromising in its pursuit of capability.

And perhaps most importantly, it is a reminder that the Army must transform now, not because war is inevitable, but because deterrence, readiness and national security demand nothing less.