For decades, battlefield firepower depended largely on weapons that followed a predetermined path once fired. Mortar rounds travelled along ballistic trajectories, artillery shells followed their calculated arcs and unguided bombs depended heavily on the conditions at the moment of release.Modern warfare is changing that equation. Guidance systems, sensors and increasingly sophisticated onboard electronics are allowing munitions to correct their flight after launch and strike targets with far greater precision.&nbsp;India is also working on technologies aimed at bringing precision to existing classes of weapons, including mortar and artillery ammunition. The broader objective is significant: instead of relying only on expensive missiles or entirely new weapon systems, intelligence can increasingly be incorporated into the munition itself.&nbsp;Speaking to WION, Abhishek Jain, Chief Business Officer of Zeus Numerix, said the distinction between conventional and smart ammunition can be surprisingly simple. “Smart basically means, can the munition decide for itself what to do in flight?”&nbsp;Jain explained that this intelligence exists at different levels. A relatively simple system might correct only its range. More sophisticated weapons can correct both range and direction, while additional sensors can enable still greater precision.&nbsp;<figure class="media"><oembed url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0AyyqPv38E&amp;list=PLKwyKu6LhauQ&amp;index=6"></oembed></figure>&nbsp;But how much intelligence should actually be packed into a projectile? Jain says the answer depends on the mission. “Can we do more? Yes. Should we do more? Depends on the CONOPS, whether we require it or not.”&nbsp;He said Zeus is working with navigation-based guidance in which a munition can detect that it is deviating from its intended trajectory and autonomously correct its course without further input from the operator. He also referred to multi-constellation satellite navigation, including Indian navigation capabilities, and systems combining satellite navigation with terminal laser guidance.&nbsp;&nbsp;Yet greater sophistication comes at a price. “The moment you include more sensors, it becomes more and more expensive, so we have to be careful about that.”&nbsp;That trade-off could become increasingly important on battlefields where militaries need both mass and precision. The future may therefore not simply belong to the smartest weapon available, but to one carrying exactly as much intelligence as the mission requires. &nbsp;

India is developing technologies to make conventional munitions smarter by adding guidance, sensors and onboard electronics. Zeus Numerix says systems can autonomously correct range and direction using satellite navigation and laser guidance, but greater precision also brings higher costs.

For decades, battlefield firepower depended largely on weapons that followed a predetermined path once fired. Mortar rounds travelled along ballistic trajectories, artillery shells followed their calculated arcs and unguided bombs depended heavily on the conditions at the moment of release. Modern warfare is changing that equation. Guidance systems, sensors and increasingly sophisticated onboard electronics are allowing munitions to correct their flight after launch and strike targets with far greater precision. India is also working on technologies aimed at bringing precision to existing classes of weapons, including mortar and artillery ammunition. The broader objective is significant: instead of relying only on expensive missiles or entirely new weapon systems, intelligence can increasingly be incorporated into the munition itself. Speaking to WION, Abhishek Jain, Chief Business Officer of Zeus Numerix, said the distinction between conventional and smart ammunition can be surprisingly simple. “Smart basically means, can the munition decide for itself what to do in flight?” Jain explained that this intelligence exists at different levels. A relatively simple system might correct only its range. More sophisticated weapons can correct both range and direction, while additional sensors can enable still greater precision. But how much intelligence should actually be packed into a projectile? Jain says the answer depends on the mission. “Can we do more? Yes. Should we do more? Depends on the CONOPS, whether we require it or not.” He said Zeus is working with navigation-based guidance in which a munition can detect that it is deviating from its intended trajectory and autonomously correct its course without further input from the operator. He also referred to multi-constellation satellite navigation, including Indian navigation capabilities, and systems combining satellite navigation with terminal laser guidance. Yet greater sophistication comes at a price. “The moment you include more sensors, it becomes more and more expensive, so we have to be careful about that.” That trade-off could become increasingly important on battlefields where militaries need both mass and precision. The future may therefore not simply belong to the smartest weapon available, but to one carrying exactly as much intelligence as the mission requires.

India is developing technologies to make conventional munitions smarter by adding guidance, sensors and onboard electronics. Zeus Numerix says systems can autonomously correct range and direction using satellite navigation and laser guidance, but greater precision also brings higher costs.

When munitions start thinking: How India is turning conventional weapons ‘smart’

The United States has publicly disclosed the militarisation of space for the first time. U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink has acknowledged that America now possesses “on-orbit space control weapons” capable of defending US forces against hostile action. Washington, however, has not disclosed what those weapons are, whether they are kinetic or non-kinetic, or precisely how they would operate. For decades, satellites have been the invisible infrastructure behind modern warfare, providing communications, navigation, missile warning, surveillance, and targeting. Now, the battle may no longer simply be from space. It could be fought in space. Speaking on WION’s Defence Pulse, Lt Gen P.J.S. Pannu (Retd.), GLOBAL SPACE FUTURES ADVISORY COUNCIL and former Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, said the American announcement should not necessarily be interpreted as the sudden arrival of a new capability. Pannu described a future orbital battlefield extending far beyond the popular image of missiles or lasers. He explains that co-orbital satellites could manoeuvre alongside another spacecraft. Robotic arms could potentially interfere with satellites. Directed-energy weapons and high-power microwaves could disrupt systems, while kinetic vehicles could physically destroy targets. Cyber attacks, spoofing, and jamming could target the communications and command links connecting satellites to Earth. He also pointed to a particularly unconventional form of orbital warfare: forcing an adversary’s satellite to manoeuvre repeatedly until it exhausts its limited fuel. Gen. Pannu summed up the emerging American posture in stark terms: “They are ready to fight in the orbit to protect their celestial lines of communication.”

But destroying a satellite can generate debris capable of threatening military, commercial, and even civilian spacecraft. China demonstrated a direct-ascent anti-satellite weapon in 2007, while Russia has also demonstrated counter-space capabilities. Pannu argues that space has consequently become a “contested and highly volatile domain.” The legal framework is also incomplete for this new reality. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty explicitly prohibits nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in orbit, but does not impose an equivalent blanket prohibition on conventional orbital weapons. For Gen. Pannu, the implication of Washington's disclosure is clear: space control may increasingly require the ability not merely to observe an adversary, but to “disrupt, degrade, even destroy” its capabilities. &nbsp;

Speaking on WION’s Defence Pulse, Lt Gen P.J.S. Pannu (Retd.), GLOBAL SPACE FUTURES ADVISORY COUNCIL and former Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, said the American announcement should not necessarily be interpreted as the sudden arrival of a new capability.

The United States has publicly disclosed the militarisation of space for the first time. U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink has acknowledged that America now possesses “on-orbit space control weapons” capable of defending US forces against hostile action. Washington, however, has not disclosed what those weapons are, whether they are kinetic or non-kinetic, or precisely how they would operate. For decades, satellites have been the invisible infrastructure behind modern warfare, providing communications, navigation, missile warning, surveillance, and targeting. Now, the battle may no longer simply be from space. It could be fought in space. Speaking on WION’s Defence Pulse, Lt Gen P.J.S. Pannu (Retd.), GLOBAL SPACE FUTURES ADVISORY COUNCIL and former Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, said the American announcement should not necessarily be interpreted as the sudden arrival of a new capability. Pannu described a future orbital battlefield extending far beyond the popular image of missiles or lasers. He explains that co-orbital satellites could manoeuvre alongside another spacecraft. Robotic arms could potentially interfere with satellites. Directed-energy weapons and high-power microwaves could disrupt systems, while kinetic vehicles could physically destroy targets. Cyber attacks, spoofing, and jamming could target the communications and command links connecting satellites to Earth. He also pointed to a particularly unconventional form of orbital warfare: forcing an adversary’s satellite to manoeuvre repeatedly until it exhausts its limited fuel. Gen. Pannu summed up the emerging American posture in stark terms: “They are ready to fight in the orbit to protect their celestial lines of communication.”

Speaking on WION’s Defence Pulse, Lt Gen P.J.S. Pannu (Retd.), GLOBAL SPACE FUTURES ADVISORY COUNCIL and former Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, said the American announcement should not necessarily be interpreted as the sudden arrival of a new capability.

Space mines, lasers & robotic arms: Lt Gen Pannu decodes US disclosure of weapons in space

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When munitions start thinking: How India is turning conventional weapons ‘smart’

Space mines and more: Lt Gen Pannu decodes US disclosure of weapons in space