India May Recalibrate Missile Strategy Amid Global Conflicts, Says Defence Secretary

Speaking at the ANI National Security Summit 2.0 in the national capital, marking one year of Operation Sindoor, Singh highlighted the growing importance of advanced weaponry, strong air defence systems, and rapid procurement mechanisms.

Responding to a query on whether lessons from the West Asia conflict and concerns over civilian targeting necessitate a shift in India's defence planning, Singh acknowledged a changing strategic environment.

Defence Secretary said, "So there is an emerging rationale for a conventional missile force given what has happened in West Asia and to the extent that Pakistan, for example, is building a conventional missile force. Its usage was--the paradigm was that it'll be mostly used for strategic purposes--but now that that paradigm has shifted, we'll have to adjust accordingly."

He further added that India would not delay institutional processes while simultaneously boosting production capacity.

"We will not wait for the institutional part of raising a force will go on in parallel with providing the supply orders to industry to start scaling up production of missiles, which is a big challenge in India because so far we've essentially relied on one producer, one public sector producer and some in-house production capabilities of DRDO," the Defence Secretary stated.

Highlighting the need for wider industrial participation, Singh added, "We'll have to expand it and make it across industry on a much bigger scale, but yes both of these actions will have to be taken--that is the reading of our, of the Defence Ministry."

His remarks come amid growing debates within strategic circles on whether recent conflicts in West Asia, including in West Asia, signal a shift towards increased use of conventional missile systems and broader targeting doctrines.

He outlined key priorities for modernising India's armed forces, saying lessons from global conflicts are guiding India's defence modernisation, with a focus on air defence, drones, and fast-track procurement to address capability gaps.

The Defence Secretary said lessons drawn from ongoing conflicts in West Asia and the Russia-Ukraine war are shaping procurement and capability-building efforts.

Responding to a question on the top priorities in defence modernisation amid global conflicts, the Defence Secretary said, "Both from Op Sindhu and from West Asia as well as the ongoing Ukraine conflicts, you do have lessons, things like the importance of standoff weaponry, of a layered and strong air defence system, of sufficient stockpiles of ammunition and missiles, of ensuring that your radars are mobile and your artillery is also mobile."

He said these lessons have already influenced procurement decisions. "All of those lessons are fairly clear and we've taken those lessons and accordingly calibrated our procurements, which is why, for example, on the EP side, the bulk of what we did, almost Rs 30,000 crores worth of EP contracts after Op Sindhu, and the bulk of those contracts have gone primarily for drones and counter-drone systems, loitering munitions, and some types of radars and EW equipment as well," Singh said.

The session "Future of Warfare and National Security" also featured DRDO Chairman Dr Samir V. Kamat and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit. The summit was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Emphasising the need to strengthen these priorities further, Singh referred to a major defence initiative announced by the Prime Minister.

"As you are aware, the Hon'ble Prime Minister had announced a multilayered sort of air defence and offensive system called Sudarshan Chakra Mission from the Red Fort last year. A committee under the DRDO chairperson has already submitted a kind of pre-feasibility report on that mission. So we'll be working on all of that," he added.

The Defence Secretary also stressed the importance of speeding up procurement processes. "Even as these committee reports come in, whether it is this or whether it's things like the revision of DAP, we will continue to also focus on ensuring that parallelly, we do the fast-track procurement that we really need," he said.

Highlighting recent progress, Singh noted that procedural efficiency can significantly improve outcomes.

"When I say fast-track, I mean that even the procedural changes might take some time, but even within the existing procedures, you should be able to do things faster if you essentially pursue things effectively, which is what we've done over the last two and a half years," he said.

He added, "We've signed almost Rs 4.5 lakh crores of contracts in the last two years. So yes, we are on the job and hopefully we'll be ensuring that these lessons are not only learned, but they are adequately implemented in terms of filling any critical capability gaps that might exist."

- ANI