AA Edit | Sharing Missile Tech With Pvt Sector a Smart Move

It might be somewhat disturbing that a wandering munition is said to have landed on the Kirana Hills, inadvertently of course, near Sargodha, where Pakistan is said to have stationed its nukes. The incident reveals how close aerial combat may have come to triggering a nuclear incident that could so easily have led to devastating events.

The other point that the wandering drone may have made as it searched for a site to hit during the military exchanges of May 2025 is that drones and missiles make a modern war what it is, and so drastically different from the conventional ones in which boots on the ground fought with artillery tanks in support.

The same lessons may have been imparted by the resilience that Ukraine and Iran have displayed in their wars with Russia and USA-Israel, respectively in which missiles and drones have played an outsized part that may not have been envisaged until the world slipped into the third decade of the new millennium.

Iran’s resistance may have been unfairly dubbed as the waging of asymmetrical warfare. Ukraine has been largely holding off the mighty Russian army on its Donetsk doorstep while being capable of hitting deep inside Russia with drones and has even offered its drone technology in defensive techniques against drones to the free world.

We know how modern warfare is going to shape from here. Ever since Operation Sindoor shook up Pakistan and forced it to seek a ceasefire through the DGMO, India has been busy allocating funds and planning time to enhance its preparations for missiles and drones if indeed wars become necessary in the defence of the nation.

It is in this context that the Government of India’s decision to open its missile technology to private firms that can qualify against stringent standards must be welcomed as the best possible initiative to enable the domestic military-industrial complex to transition missile systems from development to industrial production.

Access to DRDO-developed technologies should enable private industry to produce at scale, which they are capable of perhaps more than the public sector that despite all the advantages of technology and capital flowing from defence expenditure budgets can be tardy when it comes to production. And, in fact, the private sector is known to be doing the most innovative work in the field of drones for varied uses.

Tapping the private sector to speed up the defence effort is not a new concept. India has been at it for years now, but this may be the first time that the willingness to share government-run laboratory technology has been stated openly with a virtual invitation for the inventive private sector to join the effort as a full-fledged production partner. Private firms would, however, have to meet stringent qualifications, certifications and satisfy regulatory requirements, including strategic secrecy, to get on to exciting new projects in missiles and drones in defence of the country.

DRDO may have moved to transfer more than 2,000 lines of technology already, but what is being staked now is access to the making of tech-intensive weapons whose development involves streams of technology more intricate than even complex rocket science. There are several indigenously developed programmes like the Agni missiles, Akash and Astra air defence systems, etc., in which the invited private companies are already participating as suppliers, and they get an opportunity to be partners now.