Going ahead, India’s effort to construct and retain sovereign management over its army capabilities will prioritise co-development and the retention inside the nation of mental property (IP), supply codes, important design knowledge, and the flexibility to improve platforms independently, somewhat than merely the native manufacture of foreign-origin gear, in accordance to a draft coverage doc launched by the federal government late on Tuesday that may govern the procurement of every thing from tanks and warships to fighter jets and drones.
“For the subsequent decade, the metric of success is not just ‘Made in India’, however ‘Owned by India’,” mentioned the Draft Defence Acquisition Process (DAP) 2026, which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched for feedback and ideas from stakeholders. Describing this as a “doctrinal departure” from what it termed the “preliminary section of ‘indigenisation’”, the draft doc mentioned the sooner strategy was outlined primarily by switch of know-how (ToT) and localisation of producing — an strategy it famous usually resulted in dependence on legacy programs. It mentioned the brand new focus would as a substitute be on positioning India as a design powerhouse of the world.
The deadline for stakeholders to submit their observations is March 3, 2026. The DAP governs and lays down the principles and timelines for the procurement of kit, platforms and programs underneath the capital head of expenditure. As soon as authorized, it would change the DAP 2020 at present in drive.
Renewed push for jointness and ‘atmanirbharta’
Calling the subsequent 10 years “probably the most consequential and decisive decade in impartial India’s defence historical past”, the draft DAP recognized “Jointness, Atmanirbharta and Innovation (JAI)” because the keystone of presidency coverage for defence preparedness.
Enhancing jointness — the built-in planning, command and execution of army operations throughout land, sea, air, house and cyber domains — among the many Military, Navy and Air Pressure is a acknowledged goal of the federal government. Nonetheless, the much-anticipated theatre instructions are but to materialise, with variations rising among the many companies over how jointness ought to be operationalised.
The draft doc comes 9 months after Operation Sindoor — the Might 7–10 battle with Pakistan — throughout which the companies’ capacity to conduct joint operations was examined, most visibly within the area of air defence, the place belongings from all three companies operated collectively to counter Pakistani missile and drone assaults.
The renewed emphasis on innovation and self-reliance, or atmanirbharta, in defence comes within the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s express remarks throughout his Independence Day handle, through which he mentioned Operation Sindoor underscored the significance of strategic autonomy and indigenous capabilities — together with Made-in-India weapons — in decisively countering threats. He additionally burdened that nationwide safety can not relaxation on dependence on overseas sources. Notably, the Prime Minister issued a pointed name to Indian innovators and youth to develop jet engines, a long-standing functionality hole that has constrained the nation’s indigenous defence programmes.
Deal with quicker induction of drones and AI capabilities
Figuring out the accelerating tempo at which weapons and programs have gotten out of date — somewhat than the provision of budgetary assets — as the first problem for defence acquisition within the foreseeable future, the draft introduced the introduction of latest “procurement protocols” for fast-evolving programs involving synthetic intelligence (AI), quantum computing, autonomous platforms and directed vitality weapons (DEWs), in addition to for the upgrading of programs by means of software program.
“The speed of technological change in AI, quantum computing, new know-how drones and DEWs now outpaces the standard 2–3-year acquisition cycle,” the doc acknowledged, including that software program is as important to fight functionality as {hardware}. It subsequently emphasised that upgrades are an equally vital a part of acquisition because the gear itself.
The emphasis on up to date and future battlefield applied sciences follows acknowledgements by the Military and the Air Pressure of the widespread use of AI throughout Operation Sindoor. Particularly, the Military has mentioned that indigenously developed army software program functions and AI instruments had been extensively used to speed up decision-making and improve battlefield consciousness. The service has additionally been working to improve these capabilities by means of the event of a military-specific massive language mannequin (LLM). The AI instruments deployed by the Military — together with small language fashions — had been developed domestically and educated utilizing knowledge supplied by the service to meet its operational and doctrinal necessities.
The emphasis on autonomous platforms, or drones, additionally follows developments throughout Operation Sindoor, which witnessed a number of army firsts within the subcontinent, together with the large-scale use of drone warfare by Pakistan. Pakistani forces employed drone swarms to goal Indian civilian and army infrastructure. Indian forces, for his or her half, used drones and loitering munitions of their preliminary strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, in addition to within the subsequent neutralisation of Pakistani air defence programs. Operation Sindoor marked the arrival of large-scale kinetic, non-contact warfare within the subcontinent, characterised by fight carried out by means of long-range projectiles somewhat than close-range troop engagements.
No less than 670 unmanned aerial autos — starting from heavy high-altitude long-endurance drones to vertical take-off programs — are slated to be acquired by the armed forces within the coming years underneath the 15-year defence modernisation roadmap unveiled in September 2025. As well as, up to 70 radar-evading remotely piloted plane are included within the Military’s necessities underneath the modernisation plan.
Creating civil-military fusion
Acknowledging that the battlefield of the approaching decade shall be dominated by dual-use applied sciences — outlined as being of civilian origin however adaptable for army use — the doc mentioned, “The inflexible partitions between ‘civilian’ and ‘army’ specs have crumbled.”
Consequently, it mentioned it could institutionalise “Civil-Navy Fusion” — built-in civilian and army sectors that share capabilities and innovation.
The doc mentioned it could enable the companies “to procure industrial off-the-shelf (COTS) drone swarms, house applied sciences and cyber-security instruments with minimal fascinating customisation, to allow the conversion of superior civil know-how into army functionality”.
COTS refers to available civilian merchandise that may be employed with minimal modification.
The emphasis on integrating civilian and army sectors comes amid the federal government’s acknowledged purpose to construct a “twin manufacturing” pipeline for defence capabilities, together with collaboration between non-public corporations and state-owned defence companies.
Defence acquisition tied to financial progress
The draft additionally states that the procurement of capital-intensive weapons and programs is “now explicitly linked to the nation’s financial engine”, including that it’s going to present the regulatory framework required to drive progress by means of this route. Setting the purpose of aggressively boosting realistically designed and developed Indian gear, it mentioned this might be certain that nationwide spending “recirculates inside the home financial system”, and would nurture a provide chain starting from semiconductors to precision forging.
“On the similar time, the chopping fringe of nationwide defence shall be maintained by procuring important gear by means of overseas routes, in addition to commencing parallel growth of home alternate options,” added the draft.
According to MoD coverage, the Union Price range offered earlier this month earmarked Rs 1.39 trillion — 75 per cent of the capital acquisition element of the entire defence outlay — for procurement from home trade in FY27.
In FY21, the MoD determined {that a} substantial share of the modernisation price range can be reserved for capital procurement from home sources, with a portion of this additional put aside for acquisitions from non-public Indian trade. For FY26 as nicely, greater than Rs 1.11 trillion — once more 75 per cent of the modernisation price range — was earmarked on the Price range Estimates stage for home procurement. The FY27 allocation underneath this head represents a 25.2 per cent improve over BE FY26.
The doc additionally commits to supporting the nation’s human and industrial capital by matching the wants of the defence forces, facilitating overseas direct funding, and enabling the infusion of high-end technological talent units by means of overseas companies working in India.
An MoD launch late on Tuesday mentioned the draft DAP 2026 is meant to speed up drive modernisation, pace up acquisitions, and allow scaled-up manufacturing, thereby strengthening the nation’s defence ecosystem. The doc additionally locations emphasis on boosting defence exports, whereas lowering dependence on imports. As well as, it proposes easing monetary and experience-related eligibility standards to allow broader trade participation, delegating decision-making to pace up acquisitions, revamping trial and quality-assurance processes, and introducing substantial digitisation and automation throughout acquisition procedures and processes.
Source link
#Owned #India #MoD #reset #defence #buying
