Army planning to share fighting concepts to generate combat solutions from private industries

NEW DELHI: In a first, the Army is planning to share its concept of the battlefield and warfighting with the Indian industry, hoping that the engagement will generate innovative combat solutions from the private sector. A series of workshops are planned across the nation – in smaller, non-metro towns – to interact with defence manufacturers to share the modernisation requirements of the Army.

As part of the Make in India initiative, the armed forces have in recent months been conducting several engagements in the capital but for the first time, the interactions are set to shift to smaller towns where manufacturers, companies and startups are located.

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The Army, which has the largest budget among the three forces, has equipment requirements that are relatively low tech and can be sourced from Indian manufacturers more easily. While these requirements and needs have traditionally been shrouded in secrecy, plans are in place to make things more transparent to bring the industry on board.

“The idea is to share how the army fights. A bottom up perspective of the battlefield will be explained to the industry. How operations are carried out along the line of control or how militants are engaged. This will enable the industry to suggest innovations for warfighting,” an official involved in the process said.

The concept of starting the workshops in smaller cities is also in line with the government’s policy of decentralization. Sources have told ET that the workshops are likely to begin in towns like Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Lucknow. Among other initiatives that the Army is planning to promote indigenisation is the setting up of an Army Design Bureau ( ADB) that would assist the industry and DRDO with weapon design and modernisation.