We are going to enter era in which combat may be between machines and humans, says CDS

New Delhi | Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan on Tuesday underlined the evolving nature of warfare and said a combat has always been between humans but now the world is going to enter an era in which it may be between a machine and human being and later between machines.

He said this during an interaction session held at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.

"Since, again... warfare has evolved, combat has always been between a human and a human. That human may be well-protected, well-armed differently, he could be mounted on a mobile platform, it could be a horse in earlier days, it could be an attack helicopter now, but combat was always between two humans," he said.

"Now, we are going to enter an era in which a combat may be between a machine and human being, a machine which is totally autonomous, and tomorrow it could be between machines and machines. That's a big difference in warfare which is going to take place, and that's what I foresee, because of robotics," the CDS said.

He also spoke of the domains such as space and cyberspace which are now among key domains when it comes to future warfare, different from the traditional domains of air, land and maritime.