Non-Kinetic Warfare: Is India prepared for Hybrid warfare?

Non-kinetic warfare refers to military and strategic actions aimed at achieving objectives without using physical force or conventional weapons. This type of warfare focuses on influencing, disrupting, or neutralizing the adversary’s capabilities through indirect means. Read here to learn more.

Non-kinetic methods are increasingly prominent in modern conflicts, where information, cyber, and psychological operations are critical.

Indian armed forces’ preparedness to deal with “hybrid warfare” is one of the 17 subjects that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has narrowed down for deliberations for the year.

With the growing danger of “non-kinetic warfare” as seen in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts, where these methods have been deployed, it is pertinent to ensure that the parliamentary panel closely investigates the Army’s preparedness to face these threats.

Non-Kinetic warfare

Non-kinetic warfare refers to military and strategic actions aimed at achieving objectives without using physical force or conventional weapons.

This type of warfare focuses on influencing, disrupting, or neutralizing the adversary’s capabilities through indirect means.

• Cyber Warfare: Involves the use of cyberattacks to disrupt or destroy digital infrastructure, such as hacking into military systems, disabling critical infrastructure, or spreading malware. The goal is to undermine the enemy’s operational capability without physical destruction.
• Information Warfare: This includes operations like disinformation campaigns, propaganda, and psychological operations (PSYOPs) aimed at influencing public opinion, demoralizing enemy forces, or creating internal dissent. Media manipulation and social media platforms are often utilized for these purposes.
• Electronic Warfare: Involves the use of electromagnetic spectrum technologies to disrupt or disable enemy communication, radar systems, and sensors. It includes techniques like jamming, electronic deception, and signal intelligence (SIGINT) operations.
• Economic Warfare: Economic sanctions, blockades, and financial restrictions fall under non-kinetic strategies that can cripple an adversary’s economy or limit access to critical resources without the use of military force.
• Diplomatic and Political Pressure: Diplomatic isolation, international sanctions, or efforts to create international alliances against an adversary are examples of non-kinetic measures aimed at weakening a country’s political standing or influence globally.
• Psychological Operations: These operations are designed to affect the morale and decision-making processes of adversaries, including spreading rumours, creating fear, or delivering targeted messages to demoralize or confuse enemy forces and populations.

Non-kinetic warfare is often integrated with conventional (kinetic) methods in hybrid warfare, where states or non-state actors use a combination of military, cyber, informational, and economic tactics to achieve strategic goals.

• Its rise is due to the increasing reliance on digital infrastructure and global interconnectedness in both military and civilian sectors.
• For example, cyberattacks on power grids, or disinformation campaigns influencing elections, are modern applications of non-kinetic strategies.

Kinetic warfare

Kinetic warfare refers to traditional forms of military conflict that involve direct physical violence and the use of force, primarily through the deployment of conventional weapons, such as guns, missiles, and bombs.

The term “kinetic” specifically denotes energy in motion, reflecting the physical destruction caused by these weapons.

Unlike other forms of conflict, such as cyber warfare, which is conducted through digital means, kinetic warfare results in tangible damage to infrastructure, combatants, and civilians.

• Use of Physical Force: Involves the direct use of weaponry to inflict damage or destruction, including air strikes, land-based combat, and naval engagements.
• Conventional Weapons: Kinetic warfare primarily involves the use of guns, bombs, artillery, tanks, and other conventional military equipment.
• Contrast with Non-Kinetic Warfare: Non-kinetic forms, such as cyber warfare, electronic warfare, or information warfare, focus on disrupting systems or information without physical damage. However, kinetic warfare remains the traditional and most visible form of conflict.
• Examples of Kinetic Warfare:
  • World Wars I and II, where extensive ground and aerial bombardments were used.
  • Modern conflicts like the 2003 Iraq invasion or the ongoing war in Ukraine, where missile strikes, artillery shelling, and air raids are prominent.
• Evolving Role: While kinetic warfare remains central in modern conflicts, there is an increasing integration of kinetic and non-kinetic tools, such as drones and advanced missile systems, along with cyber capabilities that complement physical operations.

Hybrid warfare

Hybrid warfare refers to a strategy that blends conventional military operations with irregular tactics, cyber warfare, and non-military tools to achieve political or military objectives without direct, open confrontation.

The goal is to exploit an opponent’s vulnerabilities across multiple domains—military, political, economic, informational, and technological. Here are the key components:

Conventional and Irregular Tactics:

• Hybrid warfare includes traditional military tactics (e.g., armed conflict) and unconventional tactics, such as insurgencies, guerrilla warfare, and the use of proxy forces.
• This could involve non-state actors and covert actions that obscure the involvement of the attacking state.

Cyber Warfare:

• Cyberattacks, hacking, and disinformation campaigns are a critical part of hybrid warfare.
• These attacks aim to disrupt infrastructure, steal sensitive information, manipulate public opinion, and weaken societal trust in institutions.

Economic and Political Tools:

• Economic sanctions, trade wars, and political influence operations (e.g., influencing elections) are part of hybrid strategies.
• States may also support social movements or political groups in target countries to destabilize governments.

Information Warfare:

• The use of misinformation, propaganda, and fake news to shape public perception, influence media, and manipulate social media is a central aspect of hybrid warfare.
• This can erode public trust and create internal divisions in target countries.

Non-Attributable Actions:

• Hybrid warfare often relies on actions that are difficult to trace back to the originator.
• For instance, cyberattacks can be launched anonymously, or special operations forces may work in disguise to maintain plausible deniability.

Examples

Russia’s Tactics in Ukraine

• A well-known example of hybrid warfare is Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, particularly during the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
• Russia employed a mix of military forces (both overt and covert), disinformation campaigns, economic pressure, and support for separatist groups.
• The use of unmarked soldiers, known as “little green men,” and cyberattacks on Ukrainian infrastructure were central to Russia’s hybrid warfare strategy.

Israel-Palestine conflict

• The pager blasts in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah members are also an example of non-kinetic and hybrid warfare.
• Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted a small number of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before

Challenges in Countering Hybrid Warfare

• Difficulty in attributing actions to a specific state.
• Blurring the line between war and peace, making it hard for traditional military responses to be effective.
• Long-term effects on democratic institutions, economic stability, and public trust.

Way forward for India

The key areas needing government attention are:

• Data sovereignty: The Personal Data Protection Act, of 2023 is a neutral stance as it is trying to unlock the data economy while keeping the data of citizens secure and protected. Whereas, for example, the EU framework is both technology and sector-agnostic and lays down the fundamental norms to protect the privacy of Europeans, in all its facets. China has approached the issue of data protection from the perspective of averting national security risks.
• Technology sovereignty: It is pertinent to develop at least a dozen of critical technologies to prevent foreign powers from interfering with our security. The challenge includes the need to keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies; protect critical infrastructure and deal with regulatory and legal challenges. Hence, while developing and deploying critical technologies, India needs to simultaneously work on legislation to enable the progressive evolution of these new technologies based on security and economic considerations.
• Reforming Higher Defence Organisation: The Defence Planning Committee (DPC) constituted under the Chairmanship of the NSA in April 2018, is the right step to deal with the challenges of national security. DPC will drive the country’s military and security strategy and guide defence equipment acquisitions. The committee will operate through four sub-committees: Policy and Strategy, Defence Diplomacy, Plans and Capability Development and Defence Manufacturing Ecosystem.
• Reforming the Armed Forces. With the enhanced battlespace scenario, it is prudent that armed forces undertake structural reforms and work out doctrines to deal with the threats across non-traditional fronts too. The defence planning, procurement and acquisitions will have to be smoothened to enable timely capacity and capability building. The forces will need to have cross-domain knowledge to tackle threats emanating from different quarters. It should also look at the cross-pollination of experts from civilian fields to infuse talent.
• Expanding Strategic Partnership and Cooperation: To strengthen security, it is imperative to work out strategic partnerships to curb cross-border terrorism and money laundering by non-state actors. Mutually beneficial collective security will help us to fight the tide of growing radicalism.
• Robust Legislation: The new technologies have opened new spheres of influence. While the countries with first user advantage will like to influence legislation to retain their influence, India must formulate such legislation to regulate these technologies and prevent their use for hostile purposes.

Conclusion

The world has been devising a strategy of winning without fighting. Hence, the hosts of terms like hybrid warfare, unrestricted warfare, asymmetric warfare, information warfare, and political warfare have gained currency. Technology is fuelling not only growth but also competition and conflict.

Hybrid warfare is a modern and evolving threat, with many nations developing strategies to counter it by improving cybersecurity, intelligence-sharing, and societal resilience against disinformation campaigns.

Related articles:

• Cyberwarfare: Cyberspace in modern warfare
• Sonobuoys: Anti-submarine warfare
• Weapons of mass destruction

-Article by Swathi Satish