OPINION | When Algorithms Outrank Admirals: Pakistan’s New AI Navy Goes to War Online

by Cmde Ranjit Rai

Europe’s defense community has long observed the Indo-Pacific through the lens of maritime competition, naval modernization, and great-power rivalry. Yet an emerging dimension of South Asian security is now drawing increased attention: the expanding reliance on synthetic media, AI-generated manipulation, and doctored operational footage as tools of state-level maritime signaling. Pakistan, in particular, has begun using these instruments to project a naval capability it cannot consistently sustain in real operational conditions.

This is more than routine propaganda. It is the gradual construction of a parallel maritime reality—designed to influence perception, unsettle adversaries, and mask asymmetric power dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region. As Europe grapples with hostile information operations, from Russian disinformation to AI-generated influence targeting democratic institutions, the trajectory of Pakistan’s digital maritime strategy merits close examination.

A Manufactured Image of Naval Capability

The Pakistan Navy’s recent showcase of its ship-launched anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), the P-282, reflects this trend. Official footage released in late 2025 was brief and selective: a close-up launch and a distant splash at sea, with no confirmed ship identification, trajectory data, or verified targeting parameters. On its own, it was an unremarkable demonstration of a short-range coastal strike system.

Yet online, Pakistan’s defense ecosystem amplified the event dramatically. A surge of “enhanced” ASBM videos appeared across social media, depicting hypersonic maneuvers, carrier-kill scenarios, and precision strikes on moving naval groups. Many clips were identified by open-source analysts as composites—doctored footage from older tests, AI-generated impact sequences, computer-generated effects simulating maneuvering targets, and even content lifted from unrelated militaries.

These synthetic productions are intentional. They support efforts to portray Pakistan as possessing advanced long-range missile capabilities capable of neutralizing Indian naval platforms, including aircraft carriers. The result is a widening gap between Pakistan’s real naval capabilities and the ones being projected online.

Deepfakes Targeting Indian Naval and Military Leadership

Manipulation extends beyond weapons systems. A wave of deepfake videos has targeted senior Indian military leaders, attempting to depict them as divided, critical of government decisions, or pessimistic about India’s operational posture. One such clip, involving India’s Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi, appeared to show him blaming political leadership for military setbacks. Forensic analysis by India’s Deepfakes Analysis Unit found that although the opening seconds were genuine, most of the audio was synthetically generated using AI voice-modeling layered onto authentic visuals.

Deepfakes targeting former Army Chief General V.P. Malik and other commanders followed, each crafted to introduce doubt about India’s internal military cohesion. This is not ordinary political messaging; it is the weaponization of identity through artificial intelligence in a region that has experienced rapid crisis escalation.

The Virtual Maritime Battlespace After Operation Sindoor

The divergence between Pakistan’s real and virtual naval presence became especially visible during the 2025 India–Pakistan crisis following the Pahalgam attack. India responded with Operation Sindoor—a major deployment across the Arabian Sea involving a carrier strike group, destroyers, frigates, and submarines. Pakistan Navy’s operational activity during this period was limited by fleet availability and readiness constraints.

Online, however, Pakistan’s naval presence seemed omnipresent. Circulating videos depicted Indian ships being destroyed, Pakistani missiles intercepting aircraft, and dramatic radar intercepts supposedly proving successful engagements. Many of these videos were found to be recycled from other conflicts, digitally manipulated, or entirely generated through synthetic tools and game-engine graphics.

This dual reality—one at sea, the other online—highlights a growing trend in South Asian military communication: when physical constraints exist, digital amplification fills the void.

Strategic Drivers Behind the Synthetic Turn

Several factors explain this transformation. Pakistan faces a widening naval imbalance relative to India, whose fleet modernization, aviation capabilities, and surveillance networks have far outpaced Pakistan’s. Budget limitations and maintenance challenges restrict Pakistan Navy’s ability to field a consistent or deep-reach maritime presence.

Digital tools, however, offer a low-cost solution to constructing deterrence narratives. AI-generated content can quickly create the illusion of technological sophistication, range, and competence without the underlying capability. In an era of rapid social dissemination, these narratives spread quickly and influence domestic audiences, diaspora communities, and even international observers.

For a country managing internal pressures and external constraints, synthetic maritime power offers clear appeal.

Implications for Regional Stability and European Policymaking

Pakistan’s AI-driven naval ecosystem must be viewed within the broader landscape of global information warfare. Europe has faced its own vulnerabilities—Russian disinformation targeting elections, synthetic media manipulating public debates, and deepfake campaigns undermining trust. South Asia provides another example of how such tools can influence crisis stability between nuclear-armed states.

Fabricated missile-kill videos and deepfake statements by senior admirals may seem trivial, but they carry serious risks. They can inflame public sentiment, create confusion during crises, distort military signaling, and complicate assessments by external observers. The potential for escalation triggered by misinterpreted or manipulated content cannot be dismissed.

As Europe intensifies engagement in the Indo-Pacific, understanding synthetic information dynamics becomes essential. European navies coordinate closely with India across multiple frameworks, and European governments rely on accurate assessments of regional developments. When false naval “engagements” spread faster than verified operational updates, the risk of miscalculation grows.

A Parallel Navy of Algorithms, Not Admirals

Pakistan’s doctored ASBM videos, AI-generated maritime narratives, and deepfake impersonations do not change the conventional naval balance in the Indian Ocean. India retains clear superiority, supported by a carrier group, strong undersea capabilities, and a robust surveillance architecture.

However, Pakistan has created something unprecedented in South Asia: a parallel navy composed of digital artifacts, existing independently of its physical fleet. This virtual force is defined by edited footage instead of endurance at sea, synthetic explosions rather than credible strike profiles, and AI-engineered messaging instead of sustained deployments.

In a world where perception increasingly shapes policy, this virtual navy cannot be ignored. It represents a new frontier in maritime competition—one in which the first engagement might occur not in open waters, but within contested information streams, falsified videos, and algorithmically amplified narratives.

Europe, with its own experience confronting disinformation, has much to contribute to addressing this emerging challenge. In the years ahead, maritime security will depend not only on who commands the oceans, but also on who controls the narrative. And in that arena, those most skilled in synthetic manipulation may hold disproportionate influence.

About Author

Commodore Ranjit B Rai (Retd) is the author of the book 'The Indian Navy @75: Reminiscing the Voyage. He is an RNSC-qualified officer who served as Director Naval Intelligence and Director Naval Operations and writes on maritime matters. He also served as the India Representative of Waterman Steam Ships USA and curated the New Delhi Maritime Museum.