![\"India](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133506044,imgsize-448508,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/pralay-missile.jpg\" "\\"Pralay")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh has approved the transfer of DRDO-developed technologies for all conventional missile systems to Indian defence companies for production within the country, in a move aimed at accelerating indigenous missile manufacturing and expanding the role of private industry in India’s defence ecosystem.The Defence Ministry said the decision will enable the transition of missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the research and development stage to industrial production. The move is expected to reduce dependence on imported weapons, increase domestic value addition and create opportunities for a wider network of Indian companies, including micro, small and medium enterprises.“The provision will enable successful transition of missile system development to industrial production, reflecting the continued efforts of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) to leverage the capabilities of the Indian industry for the development and manufacture of advanced defence systems,” the ministry said.<\/p>\n The key change is that Indian defence companies will be able to access DRDO-developed technologies relating to conventional missile systems and undertake their production, subject to the applicable qualifications, certifications, approvals and regulatory requirements.This does not mean that every company will automatically receive unrestricted access to DRDO’s missile technology or classified technical information. Companies will have to meet the required eligibility, technical and regulatory conditions before they can manufacture the systems.The policy is aimed at moving more defence technologies beyond DRDO laboratories and government production agencies and into an industrial ecosystem capable of manufacturing them at scale.The defence ministry said DRDO will continue to work with Indian industry to facilitate the transfer and absorption of advanced defence technologies. The broader objective is to make the domestic industry a larger participant not just in manufacturing, but also in the development, integration and eventual upgrading of advanced weapon systems.The move also builds on DRDO’s existing technology-transfer framework. The government said earlier in 2026 that DRDO had transferred more than 2,200 technologies to various industries, while a revised technology-transfer policy had waived the earlier 20% fee for certain development and production partners and production agencies.<\/p>\n Missiles are among the most technology-intensive weapons used by modern armed forces. Their development involves propulsion, guidance, navigation, seekers, warheads, electronics, control systems, communication links, launch systems and testing infrastructure.India already has a wide range of indigenous missile programmes developed by DRDO and its partner organisations. These include the Agni family of strategic missiles, Akash air defence systems, Astra air-to-air missiles, Nag anti-tank missiles, Pralay tactical missiles, Rudram anti-radiation missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles such as K-4.BrahMos is a separate case. It is a joint India-Russia programme developed by BrahMos Aerospace, with DRDO playing the Indian side’s development role.The scale of these programmes shows why transferring technology into a wider industrial base matters. Developing a missile is only one part of the process. The military also needs a dependable manufacturing ecosystem that can produce the weapon repeatedly, maintain quality, supply spares, undertake repairs and support upgrades throughout its service life.<\/p>\n For years, India’s defence manufacturing structure relied heavily on government-controlled organisations for the production of major weapon systems. DRDO’s principal role was research and development, while organisations such as Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) became important production agencies for several missile programmes.The new push seeks to create a more distributed model.Under this approach, DRDO can concentrate more heavily on research, next-generation technologies and future weapons, while qualified Indian companies can take greater responsibility for industrialisation, manufacturing and supply-chain development.That distinction is important because development and mass production require different capabilities. A laboratory may successfully develop and test a weapon, but producing hundreds or thousands of systems requires factories, specialised suppliers, quality-control systems, skilled manpower, tooling, testing infrastructure and sustained investment.The government wants more of those capabilities to exist within India.<\/p>\n India’s private sector is no longer a peripheral player in defence manufacturing. Companies such as Larsen & Toubro, Tata Advanced Systems, Bharat Forge’s Kalyani Strategic Systems and other specialised defence firms have increasingly entered areas that were earlier dominated by public-sector organisations.The shift is not entirely new, in 2015, DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment signed a Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology with Larsen & Toubro for production of the upgraded digital version of the Lakshya pilotless target aircraft. The agreement allowed non-exclusive production and supply to the Indian Armed Forces, while exports required prior DRDO approval and government clearances.Another example came with the Astra Mk-I air-to-air missile. DRDO transferred the technology for production of the missile and associated systems to BDL, with production creating opportunities for aerospace MSMEs.The private sector has also developed manufacturing capabilities through partnerships with foreign defence companies. Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems, a joint venture between the Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael, set up a missile production facility in Hyderabad for anti-tank guided missiles, demonstrating how Indian private capital, foreign technology partnerships and local manufacturing could be combined.The latest decision could take this model further by creating more opportunities for Indian companies to participate in production of technologies originating inside DRDO.<\/p>\n The biggest potential impact is scale. India has traditionally faced a gap between successfully developing indigenous systems and producing them quickly enough to meet military requirements. A larger industrial base can help close that gap by giving the government more manufacturing capacity and reducing dependence on a limited number of production agencies.More companies can also mean greater competition for defence orders. If several qualified manufacturers are capable of producing a system or its components, the government could have a broader supplier base instead of depending on a single production line.The second impact could be on India’s supply chains.Missile manufacturing is not limited to the company assembling the final weapon. It requires hundreds of components and specialised technologies. A larger missile manufacturing ecosystem could therefore create work for MSMEs involved in electronics, precision engineering, propulsion components, composite materials, sensors, software and other specialised areas.The third impact could be on exports. Once Indian companies develop the ability to manufacture indigenous systems at competitive costs and meet international quality requirements, a larger industrial base could support India’s ambition to become a defence exporter. However, exports of sensitive missile technologies and systems would remain subject to government approvals and applicable regulations.<\/p>\n Private companies can bring capabilities that complement DRDO’s strengths.DRDO has the scientific expertise, laboratories, testing infrastructure and long experience of developing strategic defence technologies. Private industry, meanwhile, can bring manufacturing investment, supply-chain management, commercial production practices and the ability to scale production.The combination can create a clearer division of roles: DRDO develops and matures technologies, while industry increasingly takes them towards production and the armed forces provide operational requirements and feedback.This model is already visible in newer programmes. For instance, the Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile flight-tested by DRDO in June 2026 had subsystems developed by multiple DRDO laboratories and Indian industry partners, showing the growing role of industry even during the development stage.The latest decision could therefore represent a shift from simply asking private companies to manufacture defence equipment towards integrating them more deeply into the complete technology-to-production cycle.<\/p>\n The United States provides one of the clearest examples of how a large private defence industry can operate alongside government-funded military research.The US model is not based on the government withdrawing from defence research. Instead, the government remains a major funder, customer and regulator, while private companies undertake a large share of development, manufacturing and systems integration.The US defence industrial base includes major private contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and RTX, alongside thousands of smaller suppliers. The US Congressional Research Service has noted that commercial firms played a critical role in the expansion of the country’s defence industrial base, developing and producing sophisticated technologies and weapons systems.The Pentagon itself has increasingly stressed public-private collaboration. In 2023, the US Department of Defense said public-private partnership was essential to building a capable and innovative defence industrial base and to producing critical military systems rapidly and at scale.The US experience also shows that private participation does not mean the government loses control of defence technology. Washington continues to decide military requirements, fund research, award contracts, regulate sensitive technologies and control exports, while private companies compete to develop and manufacture systems.That is the broader lesson for India: private participation can be expanded without removing the government’s strategic control over sensitive defence technologies.<\/p>\n India cannot simply copy the US defence model. The US has developed its private defence industry over decades through enormous defence budgets, long-term procurement contracts, military R&D programmes and a large network of prime contractors and suppliers.India’s defence industrial base is still developing. The immediate challenge is therefore to ensure that technology transferred from DRDO does not remain confined to a handful of large companies.The success of the latest policy will depend on how widely the technology reaches the industrial ecosystem, how quickly companies can absorb it, whether procurement orders follow technology transfers and whether smaller firms can become reliable suppliers to larger defence manufacturers.The government will also have to balance wider access with security. Missile technologies can contain highly sensitive information relating to propulsion, guidance, seekers, warheads and electronic systems. Technology transfer will therefore have to remain tightly regulated.<\/p>\n The missile technology decision fits into a broader government effort to turn India’s defence industry from a buyer of foreign equipment into a larger developer and manufacturer of military systems.The government has already been pushing greater private-sector participation, indigenous procurement and defence exports. DRDO’s technology-transfer policy is an important part of this process because the value of research rises sharply when successful technologies can be converted into products that the armed forces can actually procure and operate at scale.The latest decision could therefore have implications beyond missiles. If the model succeeds, it could strengthen the case for transferring more mature DRDO technologies to Indian industry across other defence segments.For DRDO, the objective would be to spend more of its resources on the next generation of weapons. For private companies, it could open a larger market for advanced defence manufacturing. For the armed forces, it could mean a broader domestic supplier base and potentially faster availability of indigenous systems.The ultimate test, however, will be production. The success of the policy will not be measured merely by the number of technologies transferred, but by how many of them move from laboratories to factories, enter military service and eventually become scalable Indian-made defence products.<\/div>\n Pralay missile test fired by the DRDO from Abdul Kalam Island in July 2025. (image credit: DRDO) NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh has approved the transfer of DRDO-developed technologies for all conventional missile systems to Indian defence companies for production within the country, in a move aimed at accelerating indigenous missile manufacturing and expanding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Pralay missile test fired by the DRDO from Abdul Kalam Island in July 2025. (image credit: DRDO) NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh has approved the transfer of DRDO-developed technologies for all conventional missile systems to Indian defence companies for production within the country, in a move aimed at accelerating indigenous missile manufacturing and expanding […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":10,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pralay-missile.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What has DRDO cleared for industry?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Why missiles are at the centre<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
From DRDO laboratory to factory floor<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Private companies are already entering missiles<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
How this could change India’s defence sector<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What private players bring to the table<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
The US model offers a useful comparison<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
India’s version will be different<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
The bigger push for Aatmanirbharta<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"