Chennai: With increased need for domestic production of arms and ammunition, the government should pro-actively take a call on involving private manufacturers in production of defence equipment, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) director general Avinash Chander has said.
Noting that manufacture of ammunition by private companies is a burning question that the government should address in the coming period, the DRDO chief said it would require some kind of policy drive and legislation changes. “Today, explosives are totally handled under government control. But, I think time has come and we have to look for changes in the policy,” added.
Talking on the sidelines of an event at Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) in Avadi near Chennai on Monday, he said that the DRDO was looking to induct about Rs one or two lakh crore worth of products manufactured domestically in the next 8 to 10 years.
“Our major thrust area will be ammunition and we are going to create Rs 50,000 cr market for ammunition alone. We want to create more indigenous ammunition and armour to be fired from the tank. We are also going to test the artillery shells this year and after the final user evaluation test, it can be inducted,” he added.
On threat from Chinese equipments, which India purchases mainly due to the lowest tender buying process, Chander said that even the US has identified the threat of Chinese communication equipments and added that the issue could be addressed only by having our own indigenous capabilities.
Noting that cyber warfare has become a real concern to all of them, Chander said that the attacks could be of multiple dimensions. “Malwares getting into the system and corrupting it. Disruption of our communication channels especially at critical times and attack on our economic and installations which are networked,” he added.
He also added the country was looking to create a cocoon of security over imported items to prevent cyber peddling and also focus more on domestic production of electronic items including routers and switches. A cyber command centre was also being planned at the national level, according to the DRDO chief.
He said that yet another challenge comes from social media. “Social media can create different perceptions in a short time. We have seen that during the Arab revolution. It is very important to control such inherent threats. The government will address it with a very strong movement in the form of a cyber command centre,” he added.
