RMA and India's Military
Transformation
V. K. Kapoor*
Introduction
The attitudes of the military globally towards revolution in military affairs
(RMA) have largely been influenced in recent times by the US Operation
Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq
which have demonstrated the technological prowess of the US military. In
the former campaign the employment of Special Operations Forces (SOF)
to direct precision air power was a vital component of US operations to
achieve rapid success in combination with the Northern Alliance ground
troops and it was perhaps the first time that the world saw a transformed US
military in action. What was amazing was that the US military was able to
project power over very long distances with relatively small numbers of
1
troops.
The operations in Iraq once again provided an insight into a strategy of how
relatively smaller number of troops using modern weaponry and
networked digitized communications together with integrative
technologies (C4ISR) were able to wrap up a military operation with
precision and speed. However, there is a down side also because many
military analysts point out that the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are
still ongoing and though the new technologies may have greatly assisted
the US forces in achieving a quick military victory initially, but they have
not been able to secure peace despite increasing the troop strength from
*Lieutenant General (Retd.) V. K. Kapoor is former Commandant of Army War College, Mhow (MP).
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