The new mantra is self reliance in defence industry with DRDO recently coming out with a list of 108 systems and sub systems that it will help the Indian industry design and develop to strengthen the local defence ecosystem. The items on the list range from mini unarmed vehicles(UAVs), Armoured Engineering and reconnaissance vehicle(AERV), Anti-terrorist vehicle, missile canisters, marine rocket launchers, satellite navigation receivers, TR modules to fire detection systems, multi spectral camouflage nets etc. The list has been qualified by the statement that DRDO may provide scientific/technological support (https://drdo.gov.in/industry-support) and testing support (https://drdo.gov.in/test-facilities) wherever required for the development of these systems and subsystems on case to case basis.
The question is that will such an approach where research and development is constrained by the system and platform, and technology is not the driver, be the correct method. Technologies have applications across various platforms and systems. Globally the trend is that start-ups and smaller agile companies develop niche technologies for use across a spectrum of systems. Systems design needs to be done by the companies who are fully conversant with the production process and are also in the best position to factor in costs effectiveness at the design stage. The significance of looking at the evolution in weapon systems through a technology perspective has been highlighted in a paper of Brookings Institution titled “Forecasting Change in Military Technology” by Micheal O’Hanlon. According to O’Hanlon appropriate defence resource decisions need to be based on concrete analysis that breaks down the categories of major military technological invention and innovation one by one and examines each. Those areas where things are changing fastest may warrant the most investment, as well as the most creative thinking about how to modify tactics and operational plans to exploit new opportunities. He has projected 39 key deployable technologies for the period 2020-2040, and assessed that the advances in the following six technologies will be revolutionary: Computer hardware, Computer software, Offensive cyber operations, System of systems/Internet of things, Artificial intelligence/Big data, Robotics and autonomous systems.
Therefore innovation in defence research need to be guided by the direction technology is taking. There is a new trend of non-military or civil technologies which are developing exponentially and finding application in defence sector. According to Frost & Sullivan convergence of multi-disciplinary technologies, such as information technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and meta-materials, will have a wide variety of civilian and military applications. Ryan Pinto, Industry Analyst, Defence at Frost& Sullivan has observed that, “Where previously technologies would mature at glacial speeds due to their development for bespoke applications, the reverse is happening in the commercial sector. The culture of rapid prototyping, testing and iterations combined with private investment has allowed breakneck developments in certain technologies in the industry and academia with which the defence sector can no longer keep pace, these non-military commercial technologies will have a profound impact on the defence industry over the next two decades, allowing for technologies that have previously stagnated to advance.”
In a post covid scenario this trend will get even more accentuated as there is greater need for innovation to face the disruptive challenges. There will be a burgeoning of technologies like Artificial Intelligence, robotics, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, and Blockchain which have dual use implications. Defence research in India needs to break out of the old mode to keep pace with these trends.