In today’s rapidly evolving geopolitical environment, modern warfare demands seamless integration of all military domains—land, sea, air, cyber, and space. India has been at the forefront of this transformation, building a multi-domain, network-centric defence architecture that ensures continuous jointness among its Army, Navy, and Air Force. This integrated approach leverages cutting-edge technologies, dedicated military satellites like GSAT 7A, AI-driven command-and-control systems, and sophisticated layered defence networks to effectively counter multi-vector aerial threats—including drones, missiles, and saturation attacks.
What Is Multi-Domain Network-Centric Defence Architecture?
This concept refers to the ability to operate across multiple warfare domains while networking diverse sensors, weapons, and command nodes into a single operational fabric. The goal is to enable real-time information sharing, integrated command and control (C2), and rapid, coordinated responses to threats, no matter their origin—be it air, sea, or cyber.
India’s multi-domain architecture binds disparate military assets through secure digital networks and shared situational awareness, effectively turning the three Services into a unified, synchronized fighting force rather than independent branches.
Key Pillars of India’s Multi-Domain Architecture
1. Integrated Command and Control Systems
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IACCS (Integrated Air Command and Control System):
The Indian Air Force’s nerve center for air defence. IACCS fuses radar data, fighter aircraft info, missile batteries (including S-400, QRSAM, and Akash), drones, and electronic warfare units into a live Recognized Air Situation Picture (RASP). Operated over the secure AFNET (Air Force Network), IACCS coordinates layered air defences and ensures swift strike or interception decisions. Its combat effectiveness was proven during Operation Sindoor (May 2025), where it neutralized massed Pakistani missile and drone attacks by orchestrating multiple Services. -
Trigun – Naval Command System:
The Indian Navy’s integrated command and control system consolidates sensor inputs from ship radars, sonars, maritime patrol aircraft, and satellites. Trigun provides real-time maritime situational awareness, fleet management, and air defence coordination. It interlinks with IACCS and Army air defence systems to maintain a joint coastal and maritime air defence umbrella. -
Akashteer – Army’s AI-Enabled Air Defence System:
An AI-powered tactical C2 system designed to manage ground-based air defences, including QRSAM missile units. Akashteer integrates with IACCS and Trigun, securing low-altitude airspace on the ground and providing critical data to layered defence networks. Its deployment is expanding rapidly, with over 107 units inducted by 2025 and plans to reach 455 units by 2027. -
IMAC (Integrated Maritime Air Command):
A tri-service command center dedicated to coordinating maritime air operations, leveraging data from IACCS, Trigun, and Akashteer. IMAC facilitates joint planning and responsiveness over the Indian Ocean, where maritime air threats can be multifaceted.
2. Dedicated Military Satellite Assets: GSAT 7A and Beyond
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GSAT 7A:
This exclusive military communication satellite provides secure, real-time, high-data-rate links between Indian Air Force assets, Army command posts, and other Services. With wide coverage over the Indian subcontinent and maritime zones, GSAT 7A ensures continuous C4ISR connectivity—even in the remotest and contested operational theaters. -
Additional Military and Intelligence Satellites:
India also deploys satellites for reconnaissance, early warning, missile tracking, and geospatial intelligence. Satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) collectively support navigation (Sovereign GPS), targeting, and situational awareness for all domains.
These satellite assets enable persistent surveillance, accurate targeting, and unbroken communications crucial for executing multi-domain operations and rapid decision-making.
3. Secure Inter-Service Digital Networks
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AFNET (Air Force Network): Dedicated secure communications backbone for IAF.
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ASCON (Army Static and Mobile Communication Network): Army’s core network for battlefield communications.
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Naval Enterprise Network: Indian Navy’s secure data and voice network.
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Defence Communication Network (DCN): A tri-service network that allows converged voice, data, and video communications, promoting joint operational linkages.
These networks allow diverse C2 systems to interconnect, share real-time data, and coordinate across domains and geographic theaters.
| Feature | IACCS (Air Force) | Trigun (Navy) | IMAC (Tri-service Maritime Air Command) | Akashteer (Army) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air defence command & control | Naval command & control (maritime domain awareness) | Maritime air operations command (tri-service focus) | Army ground-based air defence | |
| Real-time air situation picture, threat engagement | Naval sensor fusion, fleet coordination | Maritime air command coordination | Ground-based air defence tactical C2 | |
| Army (Akashteer), Navy (Trigun), AFNET | Air Force (IACCS), Army (Akashteer) | Uses fused data from IACCS, Trigun, Akashteer | Air Force (IACCS), Navy (Trigun), Army AD systems | |
| AI-driven, AFNET secure network | Naval communication networks, satellite inputs | Advanced data fusion, tri-service coordination | AI-powered, vehicle-mounted nodes, high mobility | |
| Fully operational, combat proven (Operation Sindoor) | Operational, evolving capabilities | Operational and integrating capabilities | Steady deployment; 107+ units delivered, 455 planned by 2027 | |
| Layered air defence, fast sensor-to-shooter loops | Maritime domain awareness & operational command | Tri-service maritime air power coordination | Mobile air defence in combat zones, AI-enabled rapid response | |
| Operation Sindoor intercepting >600 incoming threats | Integrated naval operations in IOR | Enhances Indian Ocean air operations | Operation Sindoor success; key to land-based air defence |
How the Layered Joint System Counters Modern Multi-Vector Threats
1. Multi-Layered Air Defence Integration
At the tactical level, layered defence integrates:
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Long-range interceptors (S-400 systems),
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Medium-range SAMs (Akash),
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Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missiles (QRSAM) for rapid, agile threat response,
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Short-range VSHORADS and anti-drone systems (such as DRDO’s Raksha Kavach)
combined with airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) assets like the Netra system. IACCS acts as the orchestrator, allowing simultaneous engagement of cruise missiles, drones, ballistic missiles, and aircraft.
2. Advanced Electronic and Cyber Warfare
Network-centric defence supports electronic warfare to jam, spoof, or degrade incoming threat guidance and communications. Cyber defence measures protect command and weapon systems against hacking and manipulation, ensuring operational continuity.
3. Autonomous and Loitering Munitions
Drones, loitering munitions, and AI-enabled reconnaissance platforms complement missile defences by rapidly identifying and engaging stealthy or saturation threats, operating semi-autonomously to relieve human decision latency.
Operational Success and Future Path
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The Operation Sindoor (May 2025) exemplified this architecture’s strength, as India successfully intercepted hundreds of missile and drone attacks with minimal collateral damage through multi-domain coordination.
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India’s Year of Defence Reforms 2025 emphasizes accelerating integration, jointness, and technological augmentation driven by AI, hypersonics, and quantum technologies.
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Planned expansions include ramping up missile numbers, enhancing space-based ISR capabilities, and deploying more autonomous systems.
Why is This Architecture Critical for India?
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India faces asymmetric, multi-vector threats from adversaries that combine advanced missile strikes, drone swarms, electronic attacks, and cyber warfare.
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No single Service can counter these complex threats in isolation. Joint, integrated, layered defences provide resilience, redundancy, and overwhelming response capacity.
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Dedicated military satellites like GSAT 7A ensure uninterrupted command, control, communications, and intelligence even in electronic warfare or jamming environments.
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The synergy accelerates sensor-to-shooter response times, minimizes information overload using AI, and grants operational commanders a holistic real-time battlespace picture for strategic decision-making.
Technology Stack: Powering Real-Time Joint Defence with AI, Edge Computing, and Cybersecurity
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Automates data fusion from radar, sonar, satellites, and sensors to detect, classify, and prioritize threats (missiles, drones, aircraft).
AI-driven predictive analytics anticipate enemy missile or drone swarm trajectories permitting proactive engagement.
Optimizes resource allocation — dynamically directing missile interceptors and air defence units to maximize destroy probabilities with limited assets.
Significantly reduces sensor-to-shooter decision time, essential during saturation missile or drone attacks.
Edge Computing
Distributed processing occurs near sensor arrays and frontline command posts, preprocessing data locally to reduce latency and network congestion.
Handles encryption and cyber defence directly at the network edge, preventing compromised data from entering critical systems.
Secure Network Infrastructure
AFNET (Air Force Network) and Defence Communication Network (DCN) provide encrypted, jam-resistant communications using quantum encryption, frequency hopping, and redundancy techniques.
Multi-layer cybersecurity protocols protect against hacking, data integrity attacks, and false data injection.
Redundant communication pathways assure C2 continuity during electronic warfare or cyber disruption.
Interoperability Standards
Integration across diverse platforms and services is enabled by compliance with standardized data protocols (e.g., Link 16/22), IPv6 secure routing, and cross-domain translation middleware to ensure seamless joint operational capability.
GSAT 7 (Rukmini)
India’s first dedicated military communication satellite, launched in 2013.
Provides secure multicast communication for the Indian Navy, linking ships, submarines, maritime patrol aircraft, and coastal radar stations.
Covers the Indian Ocean Region for maritime awareness and coordinated naval operations.
GSAT 7A
Dedicated primarily to the Indian Air Force, launched in 2018.
Connects airbases, airborne early warning platforms, fighter squadrons, and allied army units.
Enables secure, real-time high-bandwidth communication for integrated air defence (IACCS) and joint ground-air operations.
Facilitates coordination in multi-vector threat environments such as missile and drone swarms.
Upcoming Military Satellites
GSAT 7B and 7C promise enhanced bandwidth, jamming resistance, and extended coverage.
Integration with new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations will lower latency and expand tactical ISR and communication capabilities.
Space situational awareness and rapid re-tasking will be enabled by India’s expanding Defence Space Command, enhancing resilience against sophisticated anti-satellite threats.
Network Resilience
Redundancy with overlapping satellite footprints and cross-linked relay capabilities ensures uninterrupted connectivity even if individual satellites face outages or jamming.
Terrestrial networks, UAV relays, and laser communication in development will provide further options for secure command links in contested environments.
A High-Tech Shield for India’s Defence
India’s multi-domain network-centric defence, combining AI-enabled command systems with layered missile defences and robust satellite C4ISR, offers a vital edge in tackling modern, multi-directional aerial threats:
Faster, Integrated Decision-Making: Reducing sensor-to-engage times through AI fusion and edge computing.
Joint Service Operational Harmony: Seamless interoperability across Army, Navy, Air Force through unified networks.
Resilient Multi-Layered Defence: Capable of countering saturation missile attacks, drone swarms, cruise missile salvoes in complex battle spaces.
Space-Enabled Continuous Connectivity: GSAT satellites provide the backbone for real-time strategic communications and command.
The success of this architecture was clearly demonstrated during India’s Operation Sindoor in 2025, showcasing the system’s ability to detect and neutralize a high volume of incoming threats with negligible collateral damage.
As India advances its defence modernization, the expansion and upgrading of these network-centric systems, combined with indigenous technological innovation, will remain central to its security and deterrence posture for decades ahead.
India’s multi-domain, network-centric defence architecture—built on interoperable command and control systems like IACCS, Trigun, Akashteer, and supported by military satellites such as GSAT 7A—creates a formidable, layered shield against modern aerial threats. This joint, technology-driven system not only enhances operational readiness but also serves as a credible deterrent, ensuring India maintains sovereignty and strategic superiority in a complex, contested environment.
The ongoing reforms in defence integration and technology adoption position India not only to meet current challenges but also to shape the future of multi-domain warfare, setting a standard in jointness, agility, and resilience.
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