Raksha Mantri Inaugurates Advanced Weapon System Complex
He noted that Akash and BrahMos had shown India’s capability to compete globally and that air defence had played a pivotal role in thwarting aerial threats during Operation Sindoor. He described Mission Sudarshan Chakra, announced in 2025, as a planned multi-level missile defence system to protect military installations, critical infrastructure and civil assets with three-layered protection and minimal disruption.
He highlighted the need for resilience and deterrence amid evolving warfare and identified technologies such as precision strike, integrated air defence, hypersonic weapons, autonomous platforms, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and advanced sensors as reshaping conflict. He urged that technological advances be matched by large-scale production and called on DRDO, the services and industry to function as an integrated ecosystem to speed transition from development to mass production.
He encouraged DRDO to integrate production into development, reduce timelines, simplify manufacturing and increase indigenous content to enable rapid mass production when needed. He praised measures over the last 12 years to promote research and development under Make-in-India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat and welcomed enhanced collaboration among DRDO laboratories, defence public sector undertakings, private industry, start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and academia. He also visited a technical exhibition showcasing advanced weapon systems and indigenous missile platforms.