Rajnath to get hands-on experience of the military

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to get a hands-on experience of the military as he is scheduled to fly in a fighter jet and spent a night at an aircraft carrier.

Singh will take to the skies in the back seat of the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft in Bengaluru on September 19. Nine days later, he will embark on India's lone aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in Mumbai and spent a night.

Next day morning, from the top deck of the mammoth ship Singh will witness a naval fire power demonstration with missiles and guns blazing to mark the defence minister's day at sea, Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar, Vice Chief of the Navy said here on Tuesday.

Since he took over as the Defence Minister in the second innings of the Narendra Modi government, the veteran leader spent most of his time in closed-door meetings with top bureaucrats and senior officials from the security establishment.

He also visited Leh and Pokhran with the Army and travelled to Mozambique, Japan and South Korea on official duties.

Addressing an industry event in Delhi on Tuesday, Singh said the performance of Indian defence industry didn't commensurate with its potential in past.

"A country with India's size and global prominence cannot rely on imports for arms. Investment of $10 billion and creation of 2.3 million employment opportunities is envisaged. India aspires to be $ 10 trillion economy till 2030-32 for which the contribution of defence sector is crucial," he said.

"Given India’s strong IT industry, we have prepared a road map for AI (artificial intelligence) in national security for making India a significant power of AI in defence. We plan to develop at least 25 defence specific AI products by 2024," he said at the annual conference of the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).