Underlining the need for self-reliance in defence production, IAF Chief V R Chaudhari on Tuesday said here manufacturers should also focus on indigenous design and development and not confine themselves only to production.
Stressing upon this point, he also said called for building offensive and defensive space capabilities to safeguard assets, and developing directed energy weapons that have significant advantages over traditional weapons. Chaudhari also said stakeholder collaboration was imperative to achieve self-reliance, and without it, “we will wallow in the dark.”
Pointing out that future wars will be across the entire spectrum including land, sea, air, cyber and space, the IAF chief said “the key to faster development of niche technology is to identify core areas of development, clearly articulate requirements, and closely interact with the industry to design and develop the technology.”
Addressing the Def Tech 2023 on “India’s Aerospace Capabilities And Technology Requirements”, the IAF chief said “the weapons of India @100 would look very different from weapons of India @ 75”. He went into flashback to demonstrate the capability difference due to technological enhancements over a gap of 25 years, from 1998 to now.