Atmanirbharta in defence is the way forward

On July 18, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the aptly named SPRINT challenges for the Indian industry—the initiative envisages induction of niche technology in an accelerated timeframe.

- ADMIRAL KARAMBIR SINGH

SPRINT stands for Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), NIIO and Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC). This is now being seen as the flagship programme of the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO), which was launched in August 2020.

The project, being jointly steered by the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) under the defence ministry and the NIIO, has radically transformed the defence innovation ecosystem. This is true because of a number of reasons.

First, the scale of the project is impressive. The ambitious aim of inducting at least 75 technologies as part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' recognises the need to expedite technology induction. As per data shared in various seminars during the DefExpo in Gandhinagar, over 1,000 proposals were received and over a hundred winners (most of them new to the defence ecosystem) have been declared. This itself should give results in the coming years, even if not in the near term. The important thing, of course, should be the capability that the project will induct, and not mere hankering after numbers alone.