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The Last War: How AI Will Shape India’s Final Showdown With China
If India and China were to fight a war in the near future, India faces the prospect of losing the war within ten days. China could take Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh with a minimum loss of life, and there is very little that India could do about it. This is because the Indian military is preparing for the wrong war. In this eye-opening and disquieting book, military expert and bestselling author Pravin Sawhney explains in great detail how this alarming scenario could play out.
China’s war with India will be reminiscent of the 1991 Gulf War. The US military’s battle networks connecting its defense services and guided munitions with support from space assets had induced shock and awe in militaries worldwide. Similarly, China’s war with India will stun the world with the use of artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, multi-domain operations, imaginative war concepts, and collaboration between humans and intelligent robots. China has been preparing for this since the 2017 Doklam crisis after which it permanently augmented its troops across the Line of Actual Control.
The author argues that China’s superpower status will only grow and the ‘capabilities lag’ between the two countries will expand. And if there is outright war, the Indian military will be no match for China’s AI-backed war machine. In such a war, traditional conventional forces will be at a huge disadvantage, nuclear weapons will have no role to play, and the valour of individual soldiers will be of no consequence. India is honing its strengths to fight a war in the three physical domains of land, air, and the sea, whereas the PLA is working on becoming the overwhelmingly superior force in seven domains—air, land, sea (including deep-sea warfare), outer space, cyber space, the electromagnetic spectrum, and near space (aka the hypersonic domain). The PLA’s disruption technologies will overwhelm India within the first seventy-two hours of hostilities commencing, and will lead to the quick end of India’s resistance. The primary battleground will not be on land but in cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum.
The Last War explains why it’s critical that India works to prevent such a war ever taking place.
It should avoid focusing on joint combat with the US, whose power in the region is weakening. Instead, India should seek to make peace with China and Pakistan, its main adversaries at the moment, while simultaneously working to enhance its military and technological strengths in areas that it hasn’t focused its resources on. Only then will the country’s borders be firmly secure, and the region’s future peace and prosperity be assured.
China’s war with India will be reminiscent of the 1991 Gulf War. The US military’s battle networks connecting its defense services and guided munitions with support from space assets had induced shock and awe in militaries worldwide. Similarly, China’s war with India will stun the world with the use of artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, multi-domain operations, imaginative war concepts, and collaboration between humans and intelligent robots. China has been preparing for this since the 2017 Doklam crisis after which it permanently augmented its troops across the Line of Actual Control.
The author argues that China’s superpower status will only grow and the ‘capabilities lag’ between the two countries will expand. And if there is outright war, the Indian military will be no match for China’s AI-backed war machine. In such a war, traditional conventional forces will be at a huge disadvantage, nuclear weapons will have no role to play, and the valour of individual soldiers will be of no consequence. India is honing its strengths to fight a war in the three physical domains of land, air, and the sea, whereas the PLA is working on becoming the overwhelmingly superior force in seven domains—air, land, sea (including deep-sea warfare), outer space, cyber space, the electromagnetic spectrum, and near space (aka the hypersonic domain). The PLA’s disruption technologies will overwhelm India within the first seventy-two hours of hostilities commencing, and will lead to the quick end of India’s resistance. The primary battleground will not be on land but in cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum.
The Last War explains why it’s critical that India works to prevent such a war ever taking place.
It should avoid focusing on joint combat with the US, whose power in the region is weakening. Instead, India should seek to make peace with China and Pakistan, its main adversaries at the moment, while simultaneously working to enhance its military and technological strengths in areas that it hasn’t focused its resources on. Only then will the country’s borders be firmly secure, and the region’s future peace and prosperity be assured.
Kindle Edition
Published August 10, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 7, 2022
An ok read. The author is extremely critical of Indian defence forces and the current political dispensation as has been the case always. Notwithstanding the book makes interesting revelations, though fictitious, on how future wars are likely to be fought. Overall a decent read.
October 27, 2022
Author Pravin Sawhney is a person who brings forward the futuristic problems that might disintegrate India’s defence harmony. He also has a good knowledge of military technology, conventional or emerging. Pravin compared India to China in this book for military technologies, research and development. In every place possible, he makes perfect predictions about the Indian military. Pravin and his books are not so welcomed because of the brutal truths he sometimes talks about. He explains how China might have supremacy over India and their superior challenges in military aspects. The author also believes that the ongoing border dispute might lead to a war which might cost heavily to the Indian continent.
The book is divided into four parts, and each part has chapters in it. Author Pravin skilfully describes how the long-standing animosity between India and China has forced the country to be constantly aware of the advancements in warfare to avoid being blindsided. With understandable language, facts and realities, this book offers the readers an account of the importance of the implementation of AI in Indian warfare. Though the book looks at criticising the present central government, the leaders and the military policies, the book is not biased but an honest attempt.
The book is divided into four parts, and each part has chapters in it. Author Pravin skilfully describes how the long-standing animosity between India and China has forced the country to be constantly aware of the advancements in warfare to avoid being blindsided. With understandable language, facts and realities, this book offers the readers an account of the importance of the implementation of AI in Indian warfare. Though the book looks at criticising the present central government, the leaders and the military policies, the book is not biased but an honest attempt.
February 4, 2023
Must of this book is dedicated to how ML, AI, Big data, Nano tech will be critical component of the wars of future fought by china and how India should be prepared for it. The books is full of technical misunderstandings about these technologies and contains many mistakes and wrong details. The author goes from analysis to scifi realm and then forgets to return to real world.
March 26, 2023
A thorough analysis of future of India and China military future
A must read for the defence policy makers and all defence personnel. Good analysis on future prospects of China in IOR and their adventurism in robotics and AI wrt to military and civil applications.
A must read for the defence policy makers and all defence personnel. Good analysis on future prospects of China in IOR and their adventurism in robotics and AI wrt to military and civil applications.
June 26, 2023
The author has written the book in the backdrop of a future war which he envisages would be totally different from what Indian Army is preparing for. Most of the points that the author has brought out are pertinent and must be given due consideration by our Military leaders and Policy makers if we were to even think of defending against China. However, the author has discussed several issues in his book through the prism of his political leanings. Moreover, if the jargon used by the writer was better explained in simple terms it would definitely be better understood by the readers. Overall, the book is a must read to better understand how India fares against China and also it is a wake up call for our Military and Political leaders.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews