Abstract
Indigenous defence technology is critical in a world where modern warfare is defined by multi-domain operations and where supply chains underpinning a country’s defence industrial base can be controlled by a small number of firms in a handful of countries. This article examines the gaps and vulnerabilities in India’s defence technological base. It argues that the gap lies not in platforms themselves, but in the layers beneath them: components, materials and data that determine outcomes in multi-domain warfare. This gap is sustained by chronically low investment in research and development. Although Atmanirbhar Bharat has produced capable platforms, India’s defence industrial base continues to rest on foreign inputs at these enabling layers. Progress toward self-reliance by 2047 will depend on shifting attention from platforms to these enabling layers, raising and re-targeting research investment, and securing dependable pathways, including positions within transnational supply chains.
Key words: Atmanirbhar Bharat; defence indigenisation; multi-domain warfare; critical minerals; defence research and development; defence supply chains; Viksit Bharat 2047.
