Operation Sindoor spurs $4.5 billion drive for cutting-edge defence technology
The project, approved shortly after Operation Sindoor, is designed to fill gaps in India’s national defence technologies, giving the three defence arms access to technologies from the US and other trusted nations as early as next year.
The emergency procurement programme is largely focused on uninterrupted space surveillance technologies, data analytics, and combat drones, the officials said, requesting anonymity owing to the sensitive nature of the deals.
“Roughly, each emergency procurement deal for cutting-edge defence technologies that any of the forces sign can be worth $30-35 million,” one of the officials said, adding that more than 100 such deals are expected to be evaluated and closed by the end of this year.
“The most sophisticated technologies are right now not within the capabilities of Indian manufacturers, which necessitates us to procure cutting-edge weaponry from outside of India,” said the second of the three officials.
“For the most part, the decisions were also sparked by dynamics among India’s geographical neighbours and their internal collaborations, urging the ministry of defence to expedite India’s access to contactless warfare infrastructure,” this official said.
The Indian Air Force is also in talks with multiple combat drone suppliers from the US, Israel, Ukraine and Russia to evaluate sourcing of unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the officials.
The ministry of defence did not reply to emails sent on 22 July.
Key Takeaways
- Following Operation Sindoor, India has launched a fast-track procurement programme to acquire more than 100 cutting-edge defence systems such as combat drones and space surveillance tools from trusted global partners like the US and Israel.
- The programme prioritizes technologies for space-based surveillance, AI-enabled data analytics, and unmanned systems to enhance India’s non-contact warfare capabilities and address defence technology gaps.
- While the immediate deals won’t include technology transfers, they lay the groundwork for larger collaborations.
Room for larger collaborations
Procurement deals for the defence technologies are expected to be finalised by November for imports, and access likely to be made available as early as the first half of the next calendar year, according to the officials.
While each deal would be of a relatively small quantum, the initial commercial agreements signed between the defence forces and the foreign entities in question would leave the room open for larger collaborations, the officials said.
Currently, US defence supplier Shield AI is working with JSW Group’s aerospace and military services subsidiary, JSW Defence and Aerospace, to indigenize its V-Bat drones. The two entities signed a $90-million partnership in December.
A senior executive close to developments said Shield AI is in talks with the Indian Air Force to be a supplier as part of India’s emergency procurement programme.
“The goal for Shield is two-pronged: to start with supplying its V-Bat drones to India as part of the emergency procurement programme, and subsequently be JSW Defence’s technology partner in India’s goal of using indigenous combat drones in the long run,” the executive added, declining to be identified.
Shield AI did not respond to Mint’s queries emailed on 24 July.
Other global defence technology vendors have also expressed interest in India’s emergency procurement programme.
“India is one of the world’s largest economies, and as we saw as part of the recent Operation Sindoor skirmish, non-contact warfare is a crucial aspect of future national security strategies,” said Sameer Patil, director of centre for security, strategy and technology at global think-tank Observer Research Foundation.
“India’s emergency procurement push involves both loitering munition and precision stand-off capabilities, which would expand India’s conventional warfighting capabilities without having to climb the nuclear escalation ladder,” Patil said. “In case of major previous threats to national security such as in 2008 and 2016, the availability of cutting-edge drones and precision munitions is what India lacked.”
Sharper eye in the sky
The uninterrupted space surveillance technology India is seeking will require ultra-high-resolution satellites as well as low-latency transmissions for round-the-clock operations.
“India’s current surveillance satellite infrastructure is not sufficient to provide continuous surveillance because of the limited numbers. The gap is presently filled by taking imagery from foreign commercial companies,” said Anil Kumar Bhatt, director general of space industry body, Indian Space Association.
“India’s Space-Based Surveillance-3 (SBS-3) programme, under the Centre, is currently being implemented to bring such capabilities through 52 satellites, of which 31 will be supplied by the private sector,” he added.
For deeper capability building in defence technology, however, India needs to invest actively in research and development. The current emergency procurement contracts are not expected to come with indigenisation and technology transfer agreements.
The current spree of emergency procurement “underlines India’s need to invest in defence-led research and development, including incentivizing the private sector to spend more,” said Patil.
Incidentally, in the 2025-26 Union Budget, the government increased the allocation to India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) by 12% to $3.1 billion.
