Defence indigenisation and exports

Prelims and Mains

A Positive Indigenisation List is a written assurance to private firms that an order is waiting for the defence parts it names.

• A private firm will not spend on developing a part unless it knows the order is waiting.

Prelims and Mains

Before the armed forces can buy anything large, a council chaired by the Defence Minister has to agree that they need it. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is where a capital purchase is first approved, and what it grants is a decision rather than a payment.

• Its clearance is the grant of Acceptance of Necessity, which is a decision to buy and not yet money committed.

Mains

Modern war is dominated by aerial, electronic and cyber warfare in multi domain operations, with drone swarms, loitering munitions and AI targeting. The Defence Forces Vision 2047 document stresses integrating the three services and creating dedicated Missile and Drone Forces backed by intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. DRDO's heavy in house model contrasts with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which runs a lean team of project managers and outsources development; the Arjun tank (69 per cent foreign components) and the unfinished Kaveri engine illustrate the cost. Asymmetrical attrition: a larger power's tolerance for political, economic and human cost is finite, as multi million dollar interceptors fired at cheap drones show.