India's defence exports have gained great momentum lately. Reports show that India's defence exports have been more than Rs 38,000 crore over the past seven years. The private sector is now contributing 18,000 crores to this 85,000 crore industry as government policies fuel innovation, research, and development.
India is presently exporting defence equipment to around 70 countries and is listed as one of the top 25 countries in defence exports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute 2020 report.
The rise in India's defence exports can be credited to various reforms proposed by the government to scale up defence exports and improve the ease of doing business. The government now wants to target Rs. 36,500 crores (US$ 4.8 billion) by 2025.
With a massive push towards indigenously manufacturing defence equipment and platforms, India aims to curb defence imports in the future. The government is encouraging not only big players but also MSMEs to develop state-of-the-art equipment and platforms and bring new technologies and products to the market. Reports show that around 12,000 MSMEs have joined the defence industry due to the government's initiatives, and the number of startups has also increased in this sector.
Until some time ago, poor design capabilities in critical technologies, inadequate R&D investments, and the challenge of manufacturing major subsystems and components impacted defence manufacturing negatively. However, favourable government policies have now levelled the playing field and are capably attracting technology startups to innovate in this field.
Along with this, with more MSMEs entering the defence playing field, innovation in the range of defence products is also on the increase. Perimeter security solutions, for example, lend themselves to tremendous innovation. OFC-based intrusion detection systems and the use of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) controllers, for example, can improve perimeter security while being more accurate, low maintenance, high MTBF, immune to RFI and EMI while also being intrinsically safe. Solutions are evolving rapidly. For instance, we are seeing integrated options with electric fences for deterrence with OFC PIDS for 50mtr zones for better classification and compliance with BCAS specs. Such solutions are improving detection and analysis capabilities.
Counter-drone solutions are, for example, another area for defence innovation. Best-in-class sensors and technology advancements can be used to successfully secure vulnerable airspace. Our anti-drone technology, for instance, can jam controls, video, and navigation of any drone which uses commercially available radio systems using ISM and HAM, including but not limited to 433 MHz, 915 MHz, 2.45 GHz, and 5.8 GHz.
Low maintenance complemented with complete situational awareness makes solutions like these vital to take a preventative approach towards security and defence.
Defence manufacturers have a tremendous opportunity to drive innovation as market interest in indigenous products increases and favourable policies support defence manufacturing. But the defence manufacturing sector has to capably cater to the demands of the international market and find acceptance, adoption, and advocacy.
The international market today needs sophisticated and technologically superior products that enhance situational awareness and move security from a reactive to a proactive stand. To boost defence exports, India has to look at enhancing the capabilities of their existing export product line, such as missiles, helicopters, fighter planes etc. But to get defence export to skyrocket and to capture the international defence market, they have to tap into security demands, identify new opportunities and drive innovation across product development. Interested in learning more? Connect with us.