JOIN USChallenges aplenty in India’s defence-drone space
If you thought India’s goal of becoming a global drone hub was easy to achieve, think again.
The dearth of investment, lack of relevant technology, insufficient research and development, and communication gaps between lawmakers and drone makers have made it harder for India to make better defence-grade drones locally, according to industry insiders, drone experts and armed force representatives at Aero India 2023.
The comments came less than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised the country would become a drone hub by 2030.
“India needs an ecosystem for indigenisation of defence drones,” Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State for Defence, acknowledged on Wednesday, highlighting the need for more local manufacturing and better collaboration among stakeholders.
Others such as Ankit Mehta, the co-chair of the FICCI committee on drones and the co-founder of IdeaForge Technology, said India should not rely on neighbours for critical systems. He urged the government to address the gaps in technology and improve the Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) processes that are riddled with flaws.
While some experts stressed on the need for more local investment in defence-drone startups, others worried more about the lack of research in the critical sector.
“R&D is the missing pillar of civil aviation and drone tech,” said R K Narang, a former Indian Air Force officer who is also a drone policy analyst.
Some others pointed out how grants given for academic research in the field don’t get translated into actual products due to low technology-readiness levels.
The government should offer incentives linked to design and products, establish intellectual property rights to protect the differentiation of products, and promote faster adoption of the latest technology breakthroughs in the sector, the industry veterans suggested.