Defence in our own hands: Why indigenisation is India’s most urgent strategic need!

Raju Korti
Six years ago, when General Bipin Rawat helmed the Indian Army, I had penned a detailed article advocating the strategic importance of indigenising our defence production. At the time, the argument rested on long-term foresight -- on the need to be future-ready, to build an industrial-military complex that could match our ambitions as a regional power. Today, that foresight has become an imperative, forced upon us by the intensifying heat of our geography and geopolitics.

With the re-eruption of tensions along the India-Pakistan border, the value of self-reliance in defence is no longer a matter of policy discourse but one of survival and sovereign assertion. In a region riddled with hostility, where even moments of calm are only uneasy truces, relying on foreign markets to equip our forces is a vulnerability we can ill afford.

India is the fifth largest military spender in the world -- a statistic that should ideally align with technological self-sufficiency. Yet, close to 60% of our weapons systems continue to be imported. This isn't just a fiscal drain; it leaves critical gaps in our response mechanism during crises. Foreign suppliers are vulnerable to geopolitical pressures, logistical delays, and at times, even implicit bias. An indigenised defence infrastructure doesn’t merely speak of nationalism -- it signals autonomy, preparedness, and resilience.

To be fair, the Ministry of Defence has been steering policy and investment towards this goal. The emphasis on the Make in India initiative within the defence sector has begun yielding some tangible results. But the road ahead is long and urgent. The three branches of our armed forces -- Army, Navy, and Air Force -- each offer examples of both progress and potential.

The Indian Army’s past dependence on foreign-manufactured assault rifles, particularly the INSAS series, often meant logistical bottlenecks and inter-operability issues. The recent initiative to co-produce the AK-203 rifles in Amethi -- under a joint venture between India and Russia -- is a significant move toward domestic capability. With technology transfer in place, it marks not just a manufacturing shift but a technological one. These rifles are slated to be the backbone of infantry operations in hostile terrains like Kashmir and along the LOC, ensuring frontline soldiers aren’t short-changed on reliability or firepower.

Less conspicuous but immensely consequential is the indigenisation underway in the Indian Navy. Over 60% of its equipment is now built in India. The commissioning of INS Vikrant, India's first indigenously built aircraft carrier, is both a technological and symbolic milestone. So are the Scorpene-class submarines constructed at Mazagon Dock and the range of indigenous warships under Project 15B and Project 17A. Given China's aggressive naval posturing in the Indian Ocean, a self-reliant Navy becomes not just a regional stabilizer but a deterrent force.

The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), often maligned for delays, deserves credit for turning a corner. The Akash surface-to-air missile system, a completely indigenised product, is already operational with the Army and Air Force. The missile has performed reliably in various conditions and adds a credible layer to India’s multi-tiered air defence architecture.

The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, after years of development, is finally gaining traction with the Indian Air Force. It may not yet rival imported platforms in every parameter, but it provides a base upon which India can iterate, improve, and industrialise. Meanwhile, DRDO’s Astra missile, an indigenously developed air-to-air missile, has added teeth to our fighter fleet.

India’s defence research institutions are also working on frontier technologies -- artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial systems, and electronic warfare tools -- that promise to multiply the effectiveness of existing platforms. These initiatives are critical in giving our Air Force the edge in a fast-evolving battlefield where cyber and space dimensions are becoming as important as land and air.

Indigenisation isn’t just about producing a piece of hardware within national borders. It’s about creating ecosystems -- of innovation, of employment, of industrial resilience. It’s about reducing our fiscal deficit by cutting expensive imports. But more critically, it is about gaining strategic autonomy in a world increasingly driven by unpredictable alliances and polarised supply chains.

In 2025, the stakes are far higher than they were when I first wrote on this subject. With hostile neighbours who are both nuclear-armed and unpredictable, India cannot risk a situation where a crucial defence system is caught in customs or locked behind a diplomatic stalemate. The old adage in military doctrine holds true: Amateurs discuss strategy; professionals talk logistics.

The future of our security lies not just on the battlefield, but in our factories, laboratories, and design bureaus. If war is the final test of a nation's sovereignty, then indigenisation is the syllabus we must master before the exam arrives.