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In Episode 1, we looked at a fundamental mistake companies make when entering the Indian defence ecosystem: there is no single customer called “the Army.”
Different users have different operational requirements, and the person who uses a system may not be the person who defines the requirement, controls the budget or conducts the procurement.
In Episode 2 of Defence Procurement: A Practitioner’s Perspective, Brigadier Narendra Pratap Singh examines the next critical question: What is the military actually buying?
Technology companies often approach the military by talking about processors, bandwidth, sensors, algorithms, autonomy and specifications. But the military is ultimately concerned with something else: operational effectiveness. Using examples of military vehicles and tactical communications, this episode explores why a technologically more sophisticated product may not necessarily be the better military solution. A system has to work in the real world — under difficult terrain and weather, with existing infrastructure, legacy systems, maintenance constraints and trained personnel. And unlike a commercial environment, the adversary is actively trying to make the technology fail.
The key lesson for industry is simple:
Don’t start with the technology. Start with the operational problem. The transition is from being a technology company to becoming a capability partner.
Brigadier Narendra Pratap Singh (Retd) is a Defence Technology Strategist, AI and Digital Transformation Leader, and former Director of Artificial Intelligence in the Indian Army. He is currently the CEO of Mindsprintz Consulting, advising defence organisations, startups, and industry on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, digital transformation, and the future of warfare.
