Indian Army To Soon Roll Out Automation Projects To Enhance Operational Efficiency And Enable Quick Decision-Making

The Indian Army will soon have a real-time, common operating picture, with data from various sensors and inputs fused into one comprehensive image for quicker decision-making, at all levels - ranging from the ground commander to the Corps level.

The implementation of this automation project is part of a series of initiatives being rolled out by the Army.

A new Battlefield Surveillance System (BSS) under the Project Sanjay is in the process of deployment currently, after validation in different terrains last year.

According to a source quoted by The Hindu, by December 2025, surveillance centres for all field formations will be established under BSS, integrating thousands of sensors to provide an integrated surveillance picture to commanders and staff at all levels.

The integration of the system with the Artillery Combat Command and Control System (ACCCS) will also complete the sensor-shooter grid.

India's adversaries' movements across borders will be tracked through the integration of data received from various sources, such as sensors, satellites, UAVs, and patrols, creating a comprehensive monitoring system, according to the source.

Several automation projects are reportedly being implemented with the aim of collectively boosting operational efficiency, strengthening ground commanders' awareness of the battlefield, and also to provide functional efficiency for human resource management, logistics, inventory management, medical services and other administrative functions

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) Ghaziabad is the system integrator for the project.

After rigorous testing in various terrains, the project has reportedly achieved a success rate of over 95 per cent, meeting the army’s expectations and requirements.

For the trial phase, a few surveillance centres were deployed under two corps of the army, but now that bulk production clearance has been obtained, the entire project is expected to be implemented by the end of 2025.

Originally estimated to cost around Rs 2,700 crore, the cost has now been revised to Rs 2,400 crore, with the potential for further reduction.

According to the source, the imminent operationalisation of the secure Network for Spectrum will provide abundant bandwidth to the services. In addition, the Army plans to establish captive data centres countrywide, set to be fully functional this year.

The Army Information and Decision Support System will integrate inputs from all operational and managerial information systems and enhance the BSS. It's an updated version of the Combat Information Decision Support System.

Situational Awareness Module for the Army (SAMA), a decision support system developed in partnership with the Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics, has successfully integrated inputs from various sources such as ACCCS, BSS, e-Sitrep, and the Management Information Systems Organisation.

The application is designed to provide a comprehensive view of the battlefield to commanders at all levels, based on their authorisation and roles.

SAMA will undergo field validation this month under a Corps, the source said, adding that the DSS will reduce decision-making time.

The Request For Information for SAMA was issued in October 2022 and the project is under categorisation for procurement through the capital route.
Starting this month, the army will be using an enterprise-class Situational Reporting Over Enterprise-Class GIS platform (E-Sitrep) to undertake situational reporting.

This will provide state-of-the-art spatial visualisation, temporal and dynamic querying, and analytics custom-built for commanders and staff according to authorisation rules.

The system will be first operationalised in the army’s Northern Command in June 2023 and the balance commands will migrate to the new system later.

Several other projects are also in the process of being implemented, including a computerised inventory control system, enterprise resource planning for managing supply chains, an army version of Gatishakti called AVAGAT, and high-precision weather forecasting through the Anuman app.