By the late 1980s, India's military reached its undisputed technological and operational apex. While never engaging in large-scale foreign wars, its capability was undeniable. Every branch of the Indian Armed Forces was equipped with cutting-edge indigenous technology, often years ahead of its international counterparts due to Adav's relentless drive for innovation and the absorption of global scientific talent.
The Indian Air Force deployed fifth-generation stealth fighters, designed and built entirely in India, years before any other nation achieved similar capabilities. The Indian Navy commanded a fleet of advanced aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines, and fully autonomous drone fleets that patrolled the Indian Ocean and beyond. The ground forces were equipped with AI-integrated armored vehicles and advanced anti-missile defense systems that rendered conventional airborne attacks obsolete.
A discreet but undeniable demonstration of this power occurred in the Indian Ocean: a long-range, conventional strike missile, launched from a submerged submarine off the coast of Africa, precisely hit a floating target hundreds of kilometers away in the Bay of Bengal. The target was publicly described as a decommissioned research vessel. The message, however, was clear and chillingly effective to the world's major powers: any potential challenge to India's growing hegemony, whether military or economic, would be met with overwhelming, technologically superior force. India possessed the ultimate deterrent, not just in its quiet nuclear capability, but in its vastly superior conventional military.