"India needs push on Defence R&D for future warfare" says DRDO Chief Sameer V Kamat

Addressing a gathering, Kamat said, "We want to be a technology leader, but if you look at our R&D Budget, it is very low. We allocate only 0.65 per cent to R&D, while our competitors allocate more than 2 per cent. In the area of defence, our R&D is only 5.75% of the Defence budget, but the US spends more than 10 per cent."

Samir V Kamat was giving a keynote address in the 40th Air Chief Marshal (Retd) PC Lal Memorial Lecture on Monday, organised by the Air Force Association.

Remembering the Air Chief Marshal (Retd) PC Lal, Kamat said, "He was the Chief of the Indian Air Force in 1971 during the war, and his leadership shaped the Air Force as it is today."

Kamat said, "The world we live in is undergoing a major transformation. In all domains, whether it is land, air, sea, space, cyber or information, the nature of warfare is changing. Today, we have ambitions of Aatmnirbhar Bharat and Make in India; we have to be developed by 2047, and we are on the path to being a leader in defence technology. But at the same time, we have many challenges."

Listing the challenges facing the defence sector, the DRDO Chief said that, "we don't have full control on the supply chain, we also have the scarcity of talent for R&D. We are lacking in Civil Military fusion, and this is also because of past sanctions. We must overcome all these. We also have to work on the Ease of doing R&D"

"Today, we need more participation of industries in Design and Development. We also need innovation from start-ups and MSMEs. Academic involvement in basic and applied research on future technologies is essential, and Test facilities and infrastructure must also be established. We have to do this; otherwise, we will remain as we are today. Capacity building is also lacking. Civil-Military fusion is a need of the hour," Kamat added.

Mentioning the DRDO's efforts, Kamat said that, "We are focusing on Development cum production partnership. Today, DRDO has more than 2,000 ToTs (Technology Transfer Agreements). DRDO also continuously organises the Dare to Dream Innovation contest. Our facilities have been used by 600 industries since 2022 for innovation."

Kamat said, "We are running the DRDO-MOE Collaborative Program for PhD scholars to work on Defence technologies. 39 PhD students have already started working in IITs, NITs, etc. We are also running courses like: Elective Courses in B.Tech, PG & Diploma Courses. The aim is to skill more youth for Defence R&Ds."

If you talk about Next-generation Capabilities, we are focusing on areas such as Underwater Domain Awareness, Space Situational Awareness, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), Man-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T), Cyber Defence, Securing Communications, Networking, and AI-enabled Command and Control, and Ballistic and Hypersonic Missile Defence. This is a part of operation Sudarshan Chakra, the Prime Minister Modi mentioned in his last Red Fort speech." DRDO Chief said.

Kamat Further said, "Shortly in next 1-3 years we are going to induct systems like; 'Anant Shastra' Surface to Air Missile, Guided Pinaka, Advanced Light Weight Torpedo, Trawl Assembly, Infantry Floating Bridge, Extended Range-Anti Submarine Rocket, Very Short Range Air Defence System, Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile, Dhruvastra- Anti-Tank Missile, Naval AntiShip Missile- Short Range, RudraM 2-Air to Surface Missile etc."

Concluding his remarks, Kamat said, "The road ahead is going to be both challenging and exciting. I am sanguine that if we play our cards right, we will achieve atmanirbharta and technology leadership in Defence by 2047. We have to be totally self-reliant in; Missile systems, Armoured Vehicles, Military Bridging Systems, Artillery, Guns and Ammunition, Light Combat Aircraft, Helicopters, Ships and submarines, AEW&C, Radars, EW Systems, Sonars and Torpedos, ETC." (ANI)