Rajnath flags arming of civilian products, calls for in-depth understanding of such technologies

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh highlights tech advancements in warfare at DefConnect, launching schemes to boost defence innovation.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday (October 7, 2024) underlined the increasing use of new technologies in modern-day conflicts, in addition to conventional arms and ammunition. He said many dual-use items, and even purely civilian goods, were being deployed in the battlefield.  

“They [civilian/commercial goods] are being armed. We will have to understand this in-depth,” Mr. Singh said while the speaking at DefConnect 4.0, a Defence Ministry event. His comments come against the backdrop of Israel weaponising pagers to target Hizbollah. He also launched the second edition of “Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX” (ADITI 2.0) scheme and the 12th edition of the Defence India Start-up Challenges (DISC-12) during DefConnect.

ADITI 2.0 features 19 challenges set by the armed forces and allied agencies in the domains of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technology, military communication, anti-drone systems customised for military platforms, and adaptive camouflage, etc., the Ministry said in a statement. This scheme offers grants up to ₹25 crore to Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) winners, focusing on critical technological areas crucial for strengthening the defence ecosystem of the country.

Meanwhile, DISC-12 involves 41 challenges across unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), AI, networking and communication domains with grants up to ₹1.50 crore. It also introduces the the Medical Innovations and Research Advancement (MIRA) initiative for development of medical technologies to meet the demands of the armed forces.

Mr. Singh informed that iDEX has received over 9,000 applications so far, and is currently collaborating with more than 450 start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the DISC and Open Challenge schemes. He added that 26 products have been developed under iDEX, for which procurement orders worth more than ₹1,000 crore have been placed. In addition, Acceptance of Necessity and Requests for Proposal worth over ₹2,380 crore have been issued for 37 products.

Identifying “lack of private participation in the defence sector” as a major hurdle in attaining self-reliance in the past, Mr. Singh said, “There were two major dimensions of self-reliance in the defence sector. First was the manufacturing of arms/equipment, where technology was available but there was a lack of production capacity. Second was catering to the needs of high-technology applications in view of the constantly-changing nature of warfare.”

He said earlier, only in-house research and development organisations like Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) were working towards the development of such cutting-edge technologies. But now, we are witnessing a significant role of the private sector too, and there is enhanced synergy between the public and private sectors, the biggest example of which is DefConnect.