A strategic warfare framework developed by two Indian Army veterans has received international recognition after it was cited at least 10 times in a NATO-funded European publication examining hybrid warfare, artificial intelligence and cognitive operations. Former Army chief General VK Singh praised the work of Lt Gen DS Hooda (Retd) and Lt Col Pavithran Rajan (Retd), calling the recognition a “landmark achievement for Indian strategic thought”.
Indian veterans’ warfare framework gets international recognition
Lt Gen Hooda, a former Northern Army Commander, and Lt Col Rajan co-authored Beyond the Kinetic: Deconstructing Warfare in the Socio-Technical-Cognitive Battlespace. The Council for Strategic and Defense Research, or CSDR, published the report in January 2026.
The report argues that modern wars are no longer decided only by soldiers, weapons and physical destruction. Information networks, digital platforms, technology and the way people understand events can also affect the outcome of a conflict.
The authors describe this environment as the Socio-Technical-Cognitive Battlespace, or STCB. Their central argument is that control over information and its flow through algorithm-driven platforms can shape public behaviour, decision-making and national resilience.
What cognitive warfare means and why AI matters
Lt Gen Hooda and Lt Col Rajan examine how an adversary can exploit existing divisions or information gaps without relying only on conventional military force. Artificial intelligence could make such influence operations faster, cheaper and easier to target at specific groups.
- Cognitive warfare: Attempts to influence how people understand information and make decisions.
- Algorithmic influence: Digital platforms can determine which information reaches people and how widely it spreads.
- AI risk: Artificial intelligence can help produce and distribute personalised information at large scale.
- National resilience: The authors call for media literacy, stronger institutions, inter-agency coordination and closer scrutiny of foreign-controlled digital platforms.
In simple terms, the framework says an adversary may try to weaken a country without first defeating its military. Manipulating information can damage public trust and make government decision-making harder during a crisis.
NATO-funded publication cites Hooda and Rajan
The framework was subsequently cited in Hybrid War: Threats to Power Grid Infrastructure, a publication produced under the R-GRID project, which receives funding through NATO’s Science for Peace and Security Programme.
The publication was authored by Prof. Jarosław Tomasiewicz, Dr. Michał Piekarski and Dr. Marcin Lipka. Lt Gen Hooda and Lt Col Rajan’s work appears repeatedly in its chapter dealing with AI and cognitive warfare.
The chapter discusses the OODA loop, meaning Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. The concept describes the process through which commanders understand a situation and decide how to respond. The study examines how cognitive operations can interfere with an opponent’s decision-making process rather than simply trying to make decisions faster.
It also draws on Lt Gen Hooda and Lt Col Rajan’s discussion of the Russia-Ukraine war, including Ukraine’s use of private satellite communications such as Starlink and technology used to identify Russian personnel.
General VK Singh welcomed the recognition in a post on X. “Delighted to see the pioneering theoretical framework by distinguished Veterans — former Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda (Retd) & Lt Col Pavithran Rajan (Retd) — receive international recognition,” Singh wrote.
He said their work had been “extensively cited” in the publication and described it as a “landmark achievement for Indian strategic thought” in hybrid, cognitive and technological warfare.
