India Doubles Down On Use Of AI In Defence With AI-Enabled Night Vision Device

As part of its strategy to increase commitment to AI, the Indian military will soon use AI-enabled device for night vision. According to news reports, the Army Design Bureau has built a device that will warn soldiers of unusual activity across different terrains and in high altitude areas. A senior officer from the Indian military shared that AI-based night vision device will be helmet mounted and in addition to this, there will be a wristband attached to it, which vibrates when the device picks up on movement in the area. News reports hint that the device was mooted during the ARTECH summit. In addition to the AI-enabled device for night vision, the soldiers also have access to live translator, that helps soldiers positioned along Line of Actual Control, China to interact with Chinese soldiers. The device translates Mandarin to Indian languages. In addition to this, the Ministry of Defence has also stepped up the use of AI. According to news reports, a multi-stakeholder task force on the strategic implementation of AI was set up which included members from the Government. The members included DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings, National Cybersecurity Coordinator, ISRO and BARC. As per reports, DPSU has been directed to build AI-enabled products and AI-based tools for sensor data analysis, predictive maintenance and situational awareness. A INR 73.9 crore project has been sanctioned under CAIR to build AI-based solutions to improve intelligence collation and analysis capabilities of Indian defence. In a similar vein, another project called Energy Harvesting Based Infrared Sensor Network for Automated Human Intrusion Detection was sanctioned for about INR 1.8 crore.