DRDO invites Indian defence firms to be its partner for development, production of strategic weapons | India News

Under the partnership model, selected companies would be required to meet DRDO’s technical, manufacturing and infrastructure requirements before being considered for production-related responsibilities.

NEW DELHI: Aiming to expand the scope of the country’s indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has invited domestic private companies to be “partner in the development and production of missile and bomb weapon system projects of MSS (missiles and strategic systems) cluster”.The elite research agency has issued an expression of interest (EoI) in this regard. “The objective of this EoI is to identify and shortlist potential development-cum-production partners ( DcPPs) for development and production of missile/bomb weapon system projects of missiles and strategic systems cluster,” it said. EoI is significant as the govt seeks to increase its ability to manufacture strategic weapons at scale within the country. DRDO has already transitioned systems like Agni, Prithvi, and Akash missiles and Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) system into large-scale production through public and private sector partnerships.Under the partnership model, selected companies would be required to meet DRDO’s technical, manufacturing and infrastructure requirements before being considered for production-related responsibilities. The shortlisted companies will subsequently be considered for project-specific requests for proposal (RFPs).The selected company can participate in the development, assembly and integration activities of a DRDO project and equip themselves to carry out the integration and qualification of the DRDO-designed and developed weapon. At the end of DRDO development and user trials, the company can interact with DRDO identified supply chain to execute production orders from the three services.“Industry partners can also provide upgrades and integrated logistics support to the three services during the weapons life cycle subject to the approval of the relevant DRDO lab,” the EoI said.The ability of the industry to handle bulk production from 50 units to 100 units will be evaluated in terms of infrastructure, technical capabilities and managerial manpower, the EOI said, adding, “The industry (company) should have a minimum turnover of Rs 100 crore” to be eligible for the proposal.The move comes as India continues to focus on increasing domestic defence production and reducing dependence on defence imports under its Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.