Sense, Secure, Strike: Highlighting Army’s Mantra, Lt Gen Vivek Dogra Explains Why Spectrum Dominance Is Key
Lt Gen Vivek Dogra said every era, every age has its own concept of war, its peculiarities, its limitations. Image courtesy: X.com/@narendramodi
The electromagnetic spectrum has emerged as one of the most decisive and contested domains of modern warfare, and India’s ability to dominate it will directly shape battlefield outcomes and national security, Lieutenant General Vivek Dogra, Signal Officer-in-Chief of the Indian Army, said on Friday (January 16, 2026).
Indian Army has officially designated 2026 as “Year of Networking and Data Centricity” and speaking against the backdrop of the same, Lt Gen Dogra cautioned that the finite and heavily contested nature of spectrum poses a “peculiar limitation” for military operations, one that adversaries are increasingly exploiting.
How crucial is spectrum superiority in modern military ops
Addressing the DESCOM 2026 conference organised by PHDCCI, the Lietenant General underlined that every facet of modern warfare – from Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) to navigation, precision targeting, command and control – is critically dependent on access to the electromagnetic spectrum.
“As armed forces become more networked and data-driven, spectrum is no longer a support function. It is central to operational effectiveness,” he said, stressing that ensuring access for friendly forces while denying it to adversaries is now a core military objective.
Dogra explained how every era, every age has its own concept of war, its peculiarities, its limitations and some preconceived notions. With this, he stated, “Now the current scenario where you see in global conflicts and our own war, this limiting factor can be called as the spectrum, the dominance of the spectrum and that is where the future lies.”
Army’s SSS mantra: Sense, secure, strike
Outlining the Army’s approach to spectrum warfare, Lt Gen Dogra said dominance in the electromagnetic domain rests on the SSS mantra – Sense, Secure and Strike.
Sense: Detect and understand adversary emissions, sensors and networks
Secure: Protect own communications, data links and networks from disruption
Strike: Degrade, disrupt or destroy enemy spectrum-dependent systems
“The SSS mantra is the key to dominating the electromagnetic spectrum,” he told senior military officers, DRDO scientists and industry leaders, highlighting the need for seamless integration between sensors, shooters and decision-makers.
Operation Sindoor: No hinterland in electronic warfare
Drawing lessons from Operation Sindoor, Lt Gen Dogra warned that modern electronic warfare has erased the concept of a safe hinterland. “The electromagnetic spectrum has erased borders. Soldiers on the frontline are trained, but when civilians are exposed to advanced electronic warfare, the impact can be devastating.”
He also noted that dual-use commercial technologies have blurred traditional distinctions between civilian and military spectrum usage, making future conflicts far more complex and unpredictable.
With this, Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty, Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Policy Planning & Force Development), also went on to reveal that electronic warfare played a decisive role during Operation Sindoor, particularly in jamming and GPS spoofing operations.
DRDO pushes for indigenous spectrum supremacy
Reinforcing the Army’s message, Chandrika Kaushik, Director General (PC&SI), DRDO, called for building indigenous ecosystems to achieve electromagnetic spectrum supremacy across multi-domain operations, noting that today’s battlefields are sensor-saturated, electromagnetically contested, data-driven, AI-enabled and increasingly multi-domain.
“Superior electronic warfare capability can ensure success in future conflicts,” he said, adding that the electromagnetic spectrum has now emerged as a core domain of warfare, alongside land, sea, air, cyber and space.
Why spectrum dominance matters
As India prepares for increasingly network-centric and data-driven conflicts, military leaders made it clear that control of the electromagnetic spectrum will be as decisive as firepower. Moreover, as the leaders themselves underscored, there are no hinterlands when it comes to electronic warfare.
With the Army’s SSS doctrine, expanding indigenous capabilities, and lessons drawn from recent operations, India is signalling that future wars will be won not just on land, sea or air, but in the invisible battlespace of the spectrum.
