Army Chief Rawat stresses on indigenous defence technology

Asserting that there is huge requirement to modernise the armed forces, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday called for self-reliance in terms of defence equipment manufacturing. Speaking at the Army Technology Seminar in Delhi, General Rawat said: " the time has come to ensure that we fight the next war with homemade solutions."

"There is a huge requirement of modernization of our armed forces, in every field. The future wars will be fought in difficult terrains and circumstances and we have to be prepared for them," he said.He also lauded the progress made in the direction of indigenous development of defence technology and called on the industry to strive towards it.

"Good headway has been made in lightweight bullet-proof material and fuel cell technology. The journey has begun and this must continue, we are confident that if we get support from the industry we will walk the extra mile to ensure that we utilize the technology you give us," he added. India has been pushing for 'Make in India' initiative in defence manufacturing industry.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in December said that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has a great role in realising the 'Make in India' vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The defence ministry had last week issued a Rs 10,000-crore tender for acquiring 61 advanced air defence gun systems from local manufacturers under the Make in India programme.

The tender was issued by the acquisition wing of the defence ministry and the 61 Close-in Weapon Systems (CIWS) air defence systems would be used to replace the Russian-origin systems, including the L-70 and Zu-23 air defence guns.