DRDO Chief Reveals New R&D Funding Plan Amid Defence Innovation Push

New Delhi [India], November 12 (ANI): Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Samir V Kamat on Wednesday said that the organisation is looking at introducing a "new chapter" in the General Financial Rules (GFR) to ease funding for research and development (R&D) in startups and industries.

Expressing the need for a United States Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-like autonomy in the defence research and development sector, Samir Kamat highlighted the challenges in procuring the funding for research.

Addressing the Delhi Defence Dialogue 2025 at Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), the DRDO chief said, "We are now looking at a separate chapter for R&D in our GFR. Secretary DSP has been tasked to come up with such a chapter. This will then help us in funding cutting-edge R&D in startups, MSMEs even large industries, which will then speed up our innovation."

"One of the challenges of funding cutting-edge R&D in industry was who would be accountable for the failure. Unlike DARPA in the US, which has a mandate from its Senate and Congress, where if failures occur, they don't have to answer to the Senate why it has caused loss to the taxpayer. Only 10 to 15 per cent of DARPA projects succeed because they really look at moonshots when it comes to technology. We don't have such a mechanism in India," he added.

Calling for a mindset shift in how defence R&D is viewed, he emphasised that such projects should be treated as investments rather than expenditures.

"If our projects fail, we have to answer to CAG and the Parliament why a loss has been caused to the government. But R&D has to be looked at as an investment, not an expenditure. Because even if a project fails, the lessons that you learn from that R&D can be used in several other places," the DRDO chief said.

Earlier today, at the event, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi called for the democratisation of technology, geographic diffusion, and the use of demographics in terms of citizen soldiers and merchants for modern warfare.

General Dwivedi highlighted the evolving role of technology on contemporary battlefields, citing the use of drones and artificial intelligence in the Ukraine-Russia conflict as a live example.

"As far as the future battlefield is concerned, it is the era of jostling and competition. The long piece is declining, and comprehensive conflicts are on the rise. Means technology is going yellow. Over 50 ongoing conflicts and more than 100 nations; we are watching closely the Ukrainian battlefield because it is a living lab of the conditions along our borders. Drones are stalking armour columns, AI is jamming radios, and precision fires are hitting well beyond 100 km," the COAS said.

Considering the three Ds --democratisation, diffusion, and demography --the COAS called for the use of AI, robotics, and cyber tools in the grey zones of warfare.

"I'll give out three Ds, which are changing the war scenario today. Democratisation, that is the newest technology, and it has already been shown that the platform alone is not relevant. It has to have a number of layers supported by this democratised phenomena that is AI, quantum, robotics, auto system... DW that is energy weapons, cyber tools, especially in the grey zone. Diffuse geographic independence, but dependent. And Demography, you have Citizen soldiers, guardian forces, and even merchants now play roles in conflicts, sometimes selling equipment to both sides," he said.

The Delhi Defence Dialogue 2025 is a two-day event organised by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) on the theme 'Harnessing New Age Technology for Defence Capability Development'. It was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

- ANI