10 TECHNICAL SKILLS THE MODERN INDIAN INFANTRY SOLDIER NEEDS During my last tenure at The Infantry School, we established an Innovation, Research and Development Laboratory. One thing became very clear to me. Apart from his normal soldiering skills, today’s infantry soldier also needs the ability to repair, modify, fabricate and rapidly adapt technology on the battlefield. Here are 10 additional skills which infantry units should develop amongst a selected group of soldiers. The best part is that these do not require long structured courses. The basics can be learnt through short practical training, hundreds of freely available videos, AI tools and, most importantly, by making things with your own hands. WELDING The Russia-Ukraine war has shown us how soldiers on the battlefield have changed the nature of warfare by making in-situ innovations. Welding is an essential skill for developing this capability. Whether it is making or repairing cope cages, producing weapon and EO/IR equipment mounts, modifying vehicles or creating obstacles, this one skill can help a lot. Of course, it must be learnt and practised with proper safety precautions. SOLDERING As the amount of electronic equipment in units increases, the value of this skill will continue to rise. A small broken wire can make mission critical equipment go off road. It is not always feasible to wait for the OEM or our own repair teams to carry out minor repairs. A soldier who can solder well is a force multiplier on today’s battlefield. KNOWLEDGE OF CONNECTORS, WIRES, NUTS AND BOLTS Soldiers often have good ideas to repair existing equipment, modify it or make something new. But if they do not know which connector, wire or fastener to look for, they end up doing a jugaad which may cause more damage than benefit. In my youngster days, we had ELOP HHTIs, we tried various methods to get their feed onto television screens. It was finally just a matter of identifying the right round connector, soldering it to the right wires and fitting the correct TV connector at the other end. That was it. Knowing the names, sizes and types of commonly used connectors, wires, nuts, bolts and fasteners can save enormous time. CAD MODELLING 3D printing is now a battlefield buzzword, thanks to Russia and Ukraine producing parts close to the frontline. But before a soldier can print a useful component, he must first be able to design it. CAD modelling is therefore a precursor skill to 3D printing. Repairing equipment and making new brackets, holders, protective housings, adapters, drone warheads, drone frames, dropping brackets and replacement components all require CAD before they can be printed. Soldiers can start with free and relatively simple software such as Tinkercad and then move on to Fusion 360 or other advanced software. 3D PRINTING This is critical. I will explain it with a small example. When I was commanding on the LoC, we had mine detectors which were off road because battery holders, a very simple spare, were not available. We printed the battery holders at our forward, winter-cut off headquarters, added the connectors and the mine detectors started working again. We made the entire unit’s mine detectors operational using 3D printing. I will do a detailed thread later on what soldiers need to get started with 3D printing, how to establish the capability and how much it should cost. ABILITY TO WORK WITH ARDUINO, RASPBERRY PI AND THEIR ECOSYSTEMS Arduino, Raspberry Pi and similar commercially available components can help soldiers build quick proof of concepts for their ideas. In some cases, they can even be used to make small field-ready innovations. Sensors, cameras, motors, relays and communication modules can all be brought together using these simple and versatile components. You will be surprised at how much can be achieved with an idea, the right parts and some patience. USE OF CHATGPT, CODEX OR OTHER AI TOOLS Buy the better plans where possible and use these tools to solve your field problems and support innovation. Forget complicated prompt engineering. Just explain your problem naturally, provide photographs, drawings, dimensions and details, and keep improving the solution through conversation. AI can help identify components, explain datasheets, produce code, troubleshoot problems and convert an idea into a working prototype much faster. FUNCTIONAL TECHNICAL ENGLISH Some may be surprised by this, but it is extremely important. Almost all CAD software, 3D printer slicers, component data sheets, connector documentation, Raspberry Pi and Arduino resources, and most AI tools use English. I have seen soldiers struggle with menus and simple technical instructions only because they could not read and understand basic English comfortably. They do not need literary English. They need enough functional English to understand menus, manuals, warnings, datasheets and online tutorials. Please train them extensively in this. FAMILIARITY WITH TOOLS Screwdrivers, pliers, multimeters, soldering stations, welding machines, saws, drills and drill bits: soldiers must be confident in selecting and safely using the right tool for the job. A damaged screw, wrongly selected drill bit or poor-quality crimp can destroy an otherwise good repair. When soldiers become comfortable with tools, all the other skills start coming together. BASIC ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC FAULT FINDING Knowing how to solder is useful, but first the soldier must find the fault. He should be able to use a multimeter, check voltage and continuity, identify polarity, test batteries and power supplies, trace a broken wire and recognise a loose or damaged connection. Many apparently major equipment failures are caused by very small problems. Finding those problems quickly can bring essential equipment back into service without waiting for external assistance. A SHORT SUGGESTION ON HOW TO ACHIEVE THIS Buy meaningful equipment, not equipment which remains locked in cupboards for inspection days. Select a group of interested soldiers, give them basic safety training and provide them the freedom to make, break, learn and repeat. Give them real problems from within the unit and allow them to work directly with the soldiers who use that equipment. They will learn far more through this process than through lectures alone. I will write separately about how a unit can establish this capability, what equipment it needs and how much it should cost. Tell me in the comments: what other skills do you think today’s infantry soldier needs, apart from being excellent at firing, fieldcraft, battle craft and, above all, courage? The picture (from 2022) shows my team explaining our 3D Printing use case on a forward LC Post to visiting commanders. There is a mine detector faintly visible in the picture. In my hand is the 3D printed battery holder - something I was very proud and thrilled of!