The future soldier will operate in a multi-domain battlefield, leveraging artificial intelligence to control unmanned systems and counter evolving threats like cyber warfare and autonomous weapons, with enhanced human-machine teaming becoming crucial for rapid decision-making and strategic advantage.

The future soldier will operate in a multi-domain battlefield, leveraging artificial intelligence to control unmanned systems and counter evolving threats like cyber warfare and autonomous weapons, with enhanced human-machine teaming becoming crucial for rapid decision-making and strategic advantage.

The future soldier will operate in a multi-domain battlefield, leveraging artificial intelligence to control unmanned systems and counter evolving threats like cyber warfare and autonomous weapons, with enhanced human-machine teaming becoming crucial for rapid decision-making and strategic advantage.

The soldier of the future may find himself/herself fighting a radically different kind of war, controlling multiple unmanned systems while simultaneously dealing with drone surveillance, electronic warfare, GPS denial, cyber disruptions and autonomous weapons.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play a major role in this transformation, as it will help soldiers identify targets, conduct surveillance, process huge quantities of information and make battlefield decisions faster, Lieutenant General Puneet Ahuja, AVSM, SM, VSM, Director General Strategic Planning at Army Headquarters, said.

Speaking at News18's DEFCON 2026 event on Thursday, Lt Gen Ahuja said AI will not replace soldiers. It will instead change how they fight and significantly expand what they are capable of doing.

One of the biggest changes could be closer human-machine teaming on the battlefield.

Lt Gen Ahuja said soldiers of the future are expected to control multiple unmanned systems, as autonomous platforms are already being employed for tasks such as reconnaissance.

AI is also increasingly capable of detecting patterns and changes that could previously have taken humans days or even months to identify. Such capabilities, he said, point towards a future in which soldiers and machines operate increasingly closely together.

AI could have applications across target acquisition, surveillance and target recognition, while also supporting logistics, predictive maintenance, precision operations, processing large amounts of data and cyber defence.

The transformation will not be limited to the equipment carried or controlled by individual soldiers. Lt Gen Ahuja indicated that the very nature of how wars begin and unfold could change.

A future conflict, he said, may not necessarily begin with a missile strike. It could instead start with a cyber attack or the disruption of satellites.

This means military vigilance can no longer be restricted to monitoring borders. Armed forces will increasingly have to keep track of technological trends, cyber threats, developments in space, emerging technologies and autonomous systems, while retaining the ability to respond quickly.

The future soldier could also be required to confront several different forms of warfare simultaneously.

"A soldier of the future will simultaneously face kinetic attacks, drone surveillance, electronic warfare, GPS denial, cyber disruptions, and of course autonomous systems," Lt Gen Ahuja said.

The battlefield, therefore, is expected to become increasingly multi-domain, interconnected and fast-moving, placing greater emphasis on the speed at which information can be collected, understood and acted upon.

According to Lt Gen Ahuja, the advantage in such an environment will go to the force capable of sensing developments faster, understanding them faster, making decisions faster and acting before its adversary.

TAGS