Defence Minister Rajnath Singh emphasized the growing use of new technologies in modern conflicts, in addition to traditional weapons. He mentioned that many items with dual purposes and purely civilian technology are now being used on the battlefield. Singh made these remarks at DefConnect 4.0 while launching the ADITI 2.0 scheme on Monday in New Delhi. His comments come in light of Israel’s use of pagers as weapons against Hizbollah. He called for an in-depth understanding of these technologies, exhorting the innovators to make imaginative use of the advancements for the nation’s defence.
He launched the second edition of the “Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX” (ADITI 2.0) scheme and the 12th edition of the Defence India Start-up Challenges (DISC-12) during DefConnect, which aimed to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and self-reliance (atmanirbharta) in the defence manufacturing sector.
ADITI 2.0 comprises 19 challenges set by the armed forces and allied agencies in the domains of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technology, military communication, anti-drone systems customized for military platforms, and adaptive camouflage, among others. The Ministry stated that this scheme offers grants of up to Rs 25 crore to Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) program winners, focusing on critical technological areas crucial for strengthening the country’s defence ecosystem.
Meanwhile, DISC-12 comprises 41 challenges in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), AI, networking, and communication domains, with grants of up to Rs 1.50 crore. It also introduces the Medical Innovations and Research Advancement (MIRA) initiative, which aims to develop medical technologies to meet the needs of the armed forces.
The Defence Minister announced that iDEX has received over 9,000 applications and is collaborating with more than 450 startups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the DISC and Open Challenge schemes. He also mentioned that 26 products have been developed under iDEX, for which procurement orders worth more than Rs 1,000 crore have been placed. Additionally, Acceptance of Necessity (AON) and Requests for Proposal (RFP) worth over Rs 2,380 crore were issued for 37 products.
The ADITI initiative is focusing on over 30 critical and strategic technologies to strengthen the defence ecosystem, he informed. In the defence budget for 2024-25, the government made an allocation of Rs 400 crore on innovation in defence through the ADITI scheme.
Singh identified “lack of private participation in the defense sector” as a major obstacle to achieving self-reliance in the past. He mentioned two key aspects of self-reliance in the defence sector. The first was the manufacturing of arms and equipment, where technology was available but there was a lack of production capacity. The second aspect was meeting the needs of high-technology applications due to the constantly changing nature of warfare.
“Earlier, only in-house R&D and organizations like DRDO were working toward developing such cutting-edge technologies. But now, we are also witnessing a significant role in the private sector. There is enhanced synergy between the public and private sectors, the biggest example of which is DefConnect,” Singh said in his address.
Stressing the need to move forward from imitative to innovative and distinctive technologies, the Defense Minister urged the private sector to look beyond the solutions offered through ADITI and DISC. He encouraged them to introduce technology that exceeds the needs of the Armed Forces and would be valuable in addressing future threats. He assured the Government’s complete support in achieving the objective of a robust and self-sufficient defence sector.
Ravi Shankar
