Civil–Military Fusion (also called civil–military integration or cooperation) refers to the systematic sharing of technologies, resources, knowledge, and capabilities between civilian society and the military. When guided by international norms, transparency, and ethical governance, CMF can be a powerful force for peace, resilience, and shared prosperity.
Introduction
“The science of polity…” Kautilya wrote, “is the means of the acquisition and protection of the earth; all knowledge is useful to the ruler who knows how to employ it.”
His insight was timeless: the strength of a nation lies not in one institution but in the alignment of its people, economy, and armed forces. Although he never used the term “Civil-Military Fusion,” the idea runs through the Arthashastra: prosperity, innovation, and military readiness reinforce one another.
This ancient wisdom feels uncannily modern. China’s rise has shown how closely economic growth, commercial technology, and defence priorities can be woven together. But today’s threat landscape makes such integration necessary for all nations. Cyberattacks can disable hospitals and power grids; terrorist networks blend online influence with physical violence; disinformation corrodes trust; and grey-zone tactics target societies without crossing into open war.
Civil-Military Fusion (CMF) is emerging globally as a response to this blurred environment. CMF brings together civilian agencies, Police organisations, the armed forces, industry, and universities to create a more resilient and technologically capable security system. For India, the challenge is not imitation but adaptation – building a democratic CMF model that strengthens intelligence sharing, accelerates innovation, and enhances national preparedness across both internal and external security fronts.
This article examines the global evolution of CMF, explores how the concept aligns with India’s strategic environment, and emphasises its implications for both military and policing institutions. Far from implying militarisation, CMF, if properly adapted, offers a framework for enhancing cooperation, strengthening intelligence flows, modernising the use of technology, and improving national resilience, all within the bounds of democratic accountability.
Global Evolution of Civil-Military Fusion (CMF)
CMF has emerged through different historical pathways, shaped by national priorities and institutional cultures. It has evolved from a wartime necessity to a 21st-century strategic doctrine. Its modern form represents a convergence of innovation systems, security institutions, and governance frameworks.
a. Early Foundations and Cold-War Era: Dual Use Innovation and Strategic Competition
The origins of CMF can be traced to the Cold War period, when technological innovation became inseparable from national security. The United States pioneered mechanisms such as the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), national laboratories, and the extensive military-industrial ecosystem. The Cold War saw defence-funded research spill over into civilian sectors – semiconductors, space technology, computing, the internet, and GPS all emerged from dual-use development models. Although the term CMF did not exist at the time, the practice of aligning civilian research with military requirements was firmly established.
Simultaneously, the Soviet Union developed a parallel model based on state-directed centralisation of science, industry, and military production. While technologically competitive, it suffered from bureaucratic rigidity and limited private-sector participation. The lessons from both systems have informed later CMF frameworks: innovation must be decentralised to thrive, but coordination must be centralised to be effective.
b. The U.S. Homeland Security Approach and the Integration of Domestic Agencies (post 9/11)
Post-9/11, the United States embarked on one of the most significant reorganisations of internal security in modern history. The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) brought together intelligence, federal law enforcement, border security, emergency management, and cyber defence. The fusion centre model, designed to integrate federal, state, and local intelligence streams, became a defining feature of U.S. domestic security. This model provided a template for multi-layered coordination among civilian agencies, law enforcement, the private sector, and defence institutions, long before CMF became a mainstream term.
Although the U.S. does not label its system as CMF, it embodies many of its principles, viz. (i) shared intelligence ecosystems, (ii) integrated crisis management, (iii) joint technology development, and (iv) institutionalised cooperation across federal and state structures.
US Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) collaborates with Microsoft & Google under the umbrella of public-private partnerships focused on information sharing and incident response. Both Google Cloud and Microsoft are major IT vendors to the U.S. government, including the Department of Defence. They provide specialised services to the public sector and engage with government initiatives to improve security systems across federal agencies.
Threat Intelligence and Incident Response: Microsoft and Google share threat intelligence with government agencies, such as USCYBERCOM and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to help detect, mitigate, and respond to cyberattacks. They coordinate closely with the DOD Cyber Defence Command during response efforts to a specific zero-day vulnerability.
c. European Institutional Integration and Rights-Based Oversight
Europe has developed a distinct CMF-like architecture built around cooperation between policing institutions, military organisations, border protection agencies, intelligence networks, and private industry. The European Union’s internal security structures emphasise interoperability, cross-border joint operations, shared databases, and collaborative cyber defence. Importantly, these efforts operate within strong rights-based legal frameworks, demonstrating that civil–military coordination can coexist with robust accountability and privacy protections.
d. Japan, South Korea, and Technological CMF
Japan and South Korea have embraced CMF through technology-driven national strategies. Japan’s dual-use industrial policy and strong academic-industry linkages allow military development to coexist with commercial innovation. South Korea’s R&D-intensive defence ecosystem, supported by a vibrant private sector, closely collaborates with civilian institutions. These models demonstrate how CMF fosters economic resilience and enhances national security, and they offer lessons for India’s ambitions to build high-technology, dual-use industries.
e. China’s State-Directed CMF Strategy
China is the only country to formally adopt CMF as a national strategy. Under President Xi Jinping, CMF seeks to unify military and civilian ecosystems by directing private companies, universities, local governments, and research institutions to contribute directly to defence modernisation. The strategy emphasises rapid procurement, integration of advanced civilian technologies into the PLA, and central coordination through new institutional mechanisms. China’s approach illustrates the power of whole-nation alignment, but it also reflects a governance model incompatible with democratic systems. India’s CMF must therefore evolve along a distinctively democratic, decentralised, and accountability-based path.
During the 2020 Ladakh standoff between Indian and Chinese forces, PLA drones using BeiDou supported navigation, reportedly conducted reconnaissance along the LAC.
· However, PLA had, at one point, restricted the use of BeiDou along the borders with India, out of fear that Indian forces could track their movements through the system’s signals.
· This restriction indicates that while the drones likely had BeiDou capabilities (as it is China’s military-grade navigation system), the PLA may have temporarily limited its full operational use in specific border areas, not to reveal its full capabilities.
Behind China’s dominance in minerals, manufacturing, and clean energy lies a deeper CMF strategy. This model ensures that every advance in battery technology, robotics, AI, or semiconductors serves two purposes: fuelling economic growth while strengthening national defence.
f. Russia- Ukraine War: StarLink as a Civilian Military Asset
Starlink has become a crucial civilian-military asset in the Russia-Ukraine War, providing secure internet for both military and civilian needs after traditional communication infrastructure was degraded. It has been contracted by the United States Department of Defence. Star Shield, a military version of Starlink, is designed for government use.
g. Taiwan’s Semiconductor Industry as a Strategic Asset.
Taiwan’s global semiconductor dominance serves as a deterrent. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) produces 90% of the world’s advanced chips, which are used in Fighter Jets, Missiles, AI Systems and Communication equipment. Taiwan increasingly leverages its semiconductor strength as diplomatic leverage, for example, by imposing export controls on countries whose actions are deemed a threat to its national security.
India’s Security Environment and the Need for CMF
India’s security challenges span terrorism, insurgency, cyber warfare, disinformation, organised crime, border tensions, maritime vulnerabilities, and frequent natural disasters. These threats intersect and require coordinated responses that exceed the capacities of any single institution. The use of Aadhaar-linked digital trails by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to identify terrorist sleeper cells is a step in the right direction.
a. Constitutional Realities and Distributed Security Responsibilities
India’s policing responsibilities rest with state governments, whereas defence and many strategic intelligence functions lie with the Union. Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) support state police in various conflict environments, while multiple national agencies handle counter-terrorism, economic offences, cyber governance, and information security. CMF in India must therefore function through cooperation rather than centralisation, respecting federalism and civil authority while enabling interoperability.
b. The Policing Perspective: CMF as Capability Expansion
Police forces provide the most immediate interface between the state and its citizens. Their familiarity with local contexts, community dynamics, criminal ecosystems, and behavioural patterns gives them intelligence advantages that national agencies cannot replicate. Yet police often operate with limited access to advanced technologies, including AI systems, drones, geospatial data, and real-time cyber intelligence.
A CMF model provides a structured framework for police organisations to draw on military technologies, national cyber defence infrastructure, and advanced analytical capabilities. Such integration can significantly enhance the police role in counter-terrorism, cybercrime prevention, public safety, and crisis response.
c. The Military Perspective: Leveraging Civilian Insights and Innovation
The military’s advanced ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) capabilities, secure communication networks, logistics frameworks, and cyber defence assets can play important supportive roles in internal security when governed by legal frameworks. Meanwhile, military planners increasingly recognise the importance of civilian innovation ecosystems, academic research, and private-sector technological development in ensuring long-term capability superiority.
CMF brings these elements together by strengthening the military’s understanding of civil vulnerabilities, expanding access to non-military technologies, and improving coordination with police forces that operate continuously in dynamic social environments.
Technology as the Integrator in CMF
Technology is the central enabler of modern fusion. The convergence of military, policing, and civilian technological ecosystems is inevitable, and CMF provides the governance structure to make this convergence effective.
a. Technology and Converging Security Functions
Many systems developed for defence now have vital policing applications. Unmanned aerial vehicles support search-and-rescue operations and crowd surveillance. AI-driven analytics help identify crime patterns and support investigations. Geospatial technologies support the detection of illegal mining, monitoring of insurgency, and disaster preparedness. These technologies blur the line between military and civilian applications, creating opportunities for cost-sharing, joint development, and interoperable deployment.
b. Cyber Fusion: Integrating Police, Military, and Civil Cyber Capabilities
Cyberspace clearly demonstrates the necessity of CMF. Cyberattacks target everything from military networks and civilian infrastructure to private companies and individual citizens. Effective defence requires integrated operations connecting police cyber cells, national technical agencies, military cyber commands, and private-sector security teams. CMF facilitates shared situational awareness, coordinated incident response, and unified threat analysis.
c. Geospatial and Space-based Fusion in Internal Security
Growing space capabilities offer substantial benefits for national security. Satellite imagery enhances police operations in disaster response, border monitoring, and the detection of environmental crime. Defence and space agencies possess capabilities that, when shared responsibly, can significantly enhance the efficiency and precision of state-level policing.
Intelligence Fusion as the Core of CMF
Intelligence fusion is the connective tissue of CMF. India’s intelligence architecture is broad and multi-layered, encompassing national agencies, military intelligence, central armed police forces, and state-level policing units. In the absence of structured fusion, intelligence can become fragmented, duplicative, or insufficiently actionable.
The operational angle of CMF is evident in how technology operates in parallel with military and police interventions, shaping decisive outcomes. When the soldier fights, the scientist, coder, and intelligence officer fight with them, not in uniform, but through innovation.
a. Aligning Intelligence Across Domains
A fused intelligence environment enables real-time data exchange, coordinated assessments, and multi-agency tasking. The objective is not the consolidation of agencies, but the synchronisation of intelligence flows so that local insights support national strategies and strategic intelligence informs local policing.
b. Community Intelligence: The Police Advantage
Police forces cultivate relationships that reveal early signs of radicalisation, unrest, and criminal-terrorist linkages. CMF enables these signals to be integrated into broader strategic assessments, improving the country’s ability to anticipate and prevent crises.
c. Military and National Agency Complementarity
Military intelligence, signals interception, satellite surveillance, and analyses of cross-border influences complement the granular insights gathered by police. A CMF framework connects these layers to form a holistic threat picture.
Operational Integration
Operational coordination between police, CAPFs, and military organisations has long been a feature of India’s security environment. CMF strengthens this by providing clearer doctrinal foundations, improved interoperability, and more reliable communication.
a. Joint Operations and National Response
Counter-terrorism operations, anti-insurgency missions, riot control in sensitive areas, border management, coastal security, and disaster response all benefit from coordinated action. CMF enhances these efforts by improving planning, resource allocation, and real-time decision-making.
b. Training and Professional Interoperability
Joint training exercises, cross-postings, and shared instructional modules foster mutual understanding, which is essential for collaborative operations. Police, CAPFs, and the military increasingly require knowledge of cyber operations, AI governance, hybrid threats, and crisis communication areas in which CMF can institutionalise shared learning.
c. Preserving Democratic Legitimacy
Operational integration must always respect legal boundaries and civilian authority. CMF does not equate to militarised policing; instead, it creates support structures that enable police forces to perform their duties more effectively while preserving public trust.
The Strategic Rationale of CMF
CMF is designed to remove the traditional boundaries between civil and security forces and also raise accountability in the industry. This rationale is deeply strategic, anchored in strategic advantage and national competitiveness.
• It accelerates capability development because civilian sectors – tech, AI, manufacturing, logistics, innovate faster than law enforcement and the military. They stay aligned with the global landscape through their business acumen. This CMF ecosystem enables a security force to absorb civilian breakthroughs in real time. This gives a country a first-mover advantage in emerging technologies.
• CMF reduces foreign dependency by strengthening domestic capability, enabling a country to maintain autonomy in crisis.
• This also improves the governance of the industries and the supply chain as they get integrated towards National Security.
• When the civilian sector becomes the strategic asset of the nation, it enhances op preparedness in hybrid wars, cyber-attacks, and Grey Zone conflicts.
• A functioning CMF means that when the military fights on borders, the cyber and tech infrastructure is managed by civilian commercial entities that act as an extension of war-fighting capabilities.
This alignment is achieved through a robust, responsive industrial ecosystem.
CMF – A Force Multiplier
CMF offers a powerful national advantage in contemporary statecraft and technological competition. In India, however, CMF remains underutilised, with coordination among private industry, academia, and the security apparatus still limited. A central question concerns the role of domestic industry: meaningful integration will require India to harness the strengths of its own organisations rather than depend on external firms operating within the country.
From Industrial Power to Integrated Power: The strategic continuum of Civil-Military Fusion
The Industrial Revolution laid the foundation for modern technological economies — mechanisation, mass production, and innovation led to long-term geopolitical shifts.
Civil–Military Fusion (CMF) is today’s equivalent strategy for leveraging economic and technological strength for national security—integrating advanced civilian technology into military power. Together, they describe the historical arc from industrial capacity shaping geopolitical power to modern tech ecosystems becoming decisive in strategic competition.
Hence, the CMF demands a strong industrial ecosystem in India. The trajectory from the Industrial Revolution to today’s CMF reflects one consistent truth: nations that integrate industry, technology and security become global powers. The Industrial Revolution created industrial might; CMF converts that might into strategic capability.
For India, the stakes are uniquely high. The geopolitical environment is defined by contested borders, as assertive China, technological races, a turbulent neighbourhood and shifting global supply chains. Instead of relying on foreign technologies that increase vulnerabilities, India must build an ecosystem in which industry, academia, startups, research labs, and defence forces collaborate to innovate.
This ecosystem strengthens India’s claim to strategic Autonomy and economic expansion through manufacturing. This leads to the conclusion that India must also shift from a consumer economy to a manufacturing and producer economy. Industry is just not a commercial sector but a strategic asset. Hence, with today’s CMF, India has a pathway to build industrial depth, technological confidence and strategic power for the next era.
Civil–Military Fusion — The Enduring Grammar of War
Ukraine’s recent underwater drone operations demonstrate CMF in its most contemporary form. Systems like the “Sub Sea Baby” are not purely military creations; they draw heavily on civilian engineering, commercial electronics, AI-enabled navigation, and private-sector manufacturing. The battlefield innovation emerges from outside traditional defence-industrial complexes.
The network enabling these attacks is equally civilian. Starlink, a commercial satellite internet service, has functioned as a critical military communications backbone, enabling coordination, navigation updates, and operational resilience in contested environments. This is civil infrastructure performing military functions in real time.
Whether the Russian submarine suffered decisive damage or partial degradation is secondary. CMF’s impact lies in how civilian technologies compress decision cycles, expand reach, and lower entry barriers to high-end warfare. Ports once considered secure are now vulnerable due to commercially derived unmanned systems, and submarine warfare is widely regarded as having deepened following the first underwater attack.
Civil–Military Fusion shifts warfare from state-exclusive domains to hybrid ecosystems, where startups, engineers, satellite companies, and AI models directly shape military outcomes. Control over innovation networks now matters as much as control over territory.
Thus, CMF reflects the enduring grammar of war: power seeks advantage. But today, that advantage is increasingly generated outside the uniform, embedded in civilian systems that quietly redefine how wars are fought—on land, at sea, and beneath it.
Conclusion: CMF as a Foundation for India’s Security Future
Civil-Military Fusion represents a strategic convergence that India can no longer afford to ignore. More than a policy instrument, CMF is a mindset, one that recognises that national security today extends far beyond the remit of any single department or uniformed service. It calls for aligning the strengths of police forces, the armed forces, government institutions, private-sector innovators, academic researchers, and communities into a coherent framework of national resilience.
For policing, CMF enables advanced technologies, richer intelligence flows, and stronger operational support. For the military, it offers access to civilian innovation ecosystems, ground-level situational awareness, and a broader foundation for preparedness in an era shaped by hybrid and multi-domain warfare. For India as a whole, CMF provides a pathway to safeguard democratic values, protect citizens, and build a technologically empowered security architecture capable of meeting rapidly evolving threats.
Developing such a framework requires India to shape a distinctly Indian model—one that strengthens civil authority, preserves constitutional order, and harnesses the dynamism of its society and economy. Unlike state-directed models that subsume private enterprise into military priorities, India’s approach must focus on strategic integration rather than coercive alignment. China’s CMF allows its military seamless access to commercial innovation; India must achieve synergy through collaboration, transparency, and incentives that respect the autonomy of markets and institutions.
As India reforms its military structures, ranging from logistics rationalisation to human-capital transformation, its operational preparedness increasingly centres on hybrid warfare. This environment demands more than traditional defence capabilities; it requires a fusion with civilian technologies, digital infrastructure, and industrial innovation. India’s entrepreneurial community is already brimming with ideas, but the first step toward meaningful CMF is sustained investment in research and development. Robust R&D ecosystems generate the technologies and solutions required to address global challenges, and they ensure that national security benefits from domestic ingenuity.
Thus, CMF reflects the enduring grammar of war: power seeks advantage. But today, that advantage is increasingly generated outside the uniform, embedded in civilian systems that quietly redefine how wars are fought—on land, at sea, and beneath it. The Indian ecosystem must integrate industry to enable civil-military fusion. Several papers restrict the concept of CMF to coordination between the police and the armed forces, overlooking that the infrastructure is built on innovation, technology, and a loyal industrial base. Only then does Civil-Military Fusion evolve from coordination into a true strategic framework.
A well-designed CMF model will therefore do more than enhance India’s internal and external security. It will position the country as a resilient, technologically advanced, and strategically coherent power—one capable of shaping, rather than merely responding to, the complex security environment of the coming decades.
