Akshat Upadhyay

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Lt Col Akshat Upadhyay’s review of David Hambling’s book ‘Swarm Troopers’ titled ‘‘Swarm Troopers’ by David Hambling: Potential and omnipresence of drones’ has been published in ‘The Tribune’.

Read Complete Article [+]

• Published: 3 July, 2023

Critical and Emerging Technologies have become essential components in the modern warfighting domain.

• Published: March 01, 2023
• Issue Brief

The Pralay surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 150–500 kms can be the focal point of an Integrated Rocket Force and provide critical deterrent capabilities.

• Published: January 24, 2023
• Issue Brief

Technology as an Arbiter of the US–China great power rivalry is starkly visible in both countries' recently released national security documents.

• Published: November 22, 2022
• Issue Brief

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col Akshat Upadhyay’s article ‘China-US Tussle over Semiconductors: What Does It Imply for India and the World’ has been published in Outlook on 01 November 2022.

The United States has tightened export controls regarding China with an aim to restrict the export of not just semiconductors to China but to also restrict the manufacturing process itself, says Col Upadhyay.

Read Complete Article [+]

• Published: 1 November, 2022

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col Akshat Upadhyay’s article ‘Semiconductors and National Security’ has been published in the Def Expo edition of Indian Aerospace and Defence Magazine, on 16 October 22.

The role of semiconductors in India is a factor of three closely interlinked issues of economic development, national security and existential risks to the planet. These three issues overlap, and solutions in one case may also benefit other sectors. India’s economic development and overall security, internal and external are based on the continued availability of semiconductors....India should strengthen its self-reliance by indigenising the production of certain critical components and creating and maintaining a chain of partnerships and alliances that will weather various storms, says Col Upadhyay.

Read Complete Article [+]

• Published: 16 October, 2022

Unmanned systems pose grave threat to several countries and their interests due to a number of reasons: low barrier of entry into the procurement sector, commercial availability off the shelf (COTS), ubiquity, persistence and low radar cross section (RCS). Due to this, counter drone systems have been either deployed piecemeal or existing air defence systems have been used to fill the gap. The Indian Armed Forces have a very limited experience of dealing with either drones or counter-drone systems in an operational environment. The Jammu attack using improvised drones was a wake-up call.

• Published: October-December 2022
• Journal of Defence Studies

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Lt Col Akshat Upadhyay’s article ‘Indian Armed Forces push for integrating niche technologies’ has been published in the Financial Express on 15 August 2022.

While the gamut of emerging technologies is largely comprising areas seemingly unconnected such as AI, blockchain, VR/AR, 5G connectivity, quantum technology, the aim is to transfer the cognitive load from humans to machines, freeing them to perform higher cognitive tasks and aiding in decision making processes, says Lt Col Upadhyay.

Read Complete Article [+]

• Published: 15 August, 2022

The challenges associated with facial recognition technology (FRT) need to be studied in detail before deploying them in counter-insurgency/counter-terror operations.

• Published: August 05, 2022
• IDSA Comments

The Directorate General of Inter Services Public Relations (DG-ISPR), or the Pakistan Army’s media wing has perfected the form of subverting democracy and showcasing the dominant position of the Army in the entire Pakistani polity. This article sets out to prove the same in a quantified manner. By analysing almost 25 tweets from the official account of DG-ISPR in the period 2016 ?18, the article tries to quantify, using the Merkel-Croissant model of embedded democracy, the priorities of the Pakistan Army.

• Published: March 2019
• Strategic Analysis