Bengaluru, 9 April

The Indian armed forces are studying the West Asia war as a critical case study in modern warfare, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi said on Thursday, adding that the services are analysing the conflict "on a near 24x7 basis" and will incorporate lessons at an appropriate time.

"It is too early to draw definitive lessons. The war is still going on. We are monitoring what is happening, what is working, what is not working, and learning the correct lessons," Tripathi said during the question-answer session at the 'Ran Samvad' forum on "Maritime Forces — Visualisation of Multi Domain Operation".

Tripathi also pointed to the growing vulnerability of military assets, noting that high battlefield transparency makes anything visible a target, while subsurface assets retain an advantage due to detection challenges. The conflict has also underscored the importance of resilience, particularly in sustaining supply chains through prolonged hostilities.

He said distance no longer insulates nations from consequences, citing ongoing instability in India's extended neighbourhood, underlining the interconnected nature of modern security.

Explaining the evolving maritime battlespace, Tripathi described it as a "deeply interconnected grid extending from the seabed to space," shaped by three defining attributes — speed, scale, and simultaneity.

While analysing the conflict, Tripathi also acknowledged that it is too early to draw definitive lessons. "Today, there is no fixed system of war, no rigid doctrine that we can blindly rely upon," he said.