Srinagar: Northern Command of Army is hosting two-day “North Tech Symposium-2022” on May 6 and 7 this year at Udhampur as Command’s Atmanirbharta Drive.
During the drive, sources said, that the seminar will be held on 6 May with imminent speakers and attended by senior officers from entire Northern Command and representatives from over 150 defence industries.
They said close on the heels will be the exhibition of products of industry so that military officers can be exposed to the technologies being offered by the domestic defence industry in varied fields of procurement.
Incidentally, sources said, every command is entitled to procure equipment, clothing and ammunition through Army Commander’s Special Financial Powers (ACSFP) to meet the emergent equipment requirements of troops. “As per government stipulations, Northern Command has the freedom to procure equipment worth approx Rs 500 crore each year, however, the effort of this magnitude towards attracting home industry are being seen for the first time,” they said.
Officials said North Tech Symposium is aiming at products and technologies that cater to the Intelligence, Surveillance & Recce (ISR), Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence and Information realm. “These aspects are meant to boost command & control and operational, security, logistic needs of the Army in J&K and Ladakh covering the entire spectrum of conventional and sub conventional capabilities. It needs to be noted that major weapon systems, equipment and ammunition are procured centrally through Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), route. “
Officials said that taking cue from the developments at the global and national level, the Northern Command of Indian Army seems to have re-oriented its efforts towards future course of equipping itself.
The General at the helm, Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, they said, having served as Deputy Chief of Army Staff at Delhi, has developed a clear understanding of procurements and is attempting a major push towards “Atmanirbharta”.
The eye of the Northern Command, they said is going to be on AI based technologies, swarm & counter drone technologies and ISR. Industries such as Kaaya, Cyborg Network, Tata Advance Systems Limited, Advanced Tech, BEL, Bharat Forge, FC Tech and Minerva are the major players in these domains.
These needs have been evolved through studies on capabilities of China and worldwide trends in warfare. The needs are also derived from the operational strategies on concepts for fighting the future wars.
Recently, the Defence Minister , Rajnath Singh released the “Third Positive Indigenization List” of major pieces of defence equipment with the caveat that Ministry of Defence will no longer clear these products for import. It signals India’s robust commitment for reliance on home-made products.
The total number of items banned so far comes to 310 ( that is 108 in first, 101 in second and 101 in third list). With third list in vogue, large number of high profile equipment such as light tanks, 155 millimeter gun system, guided extended range rockets for Pinaka Rocket systems, naval utility helicopters, next generation offshore patrol vessels, multi-function surveillance targeting and acquisition radar, medium range anti-ship missiles, advance light weight torpedoes, high endurance autonomous under-water vehicles, medium altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-radiation missiles and loitering ammunitions have got listed for indigenous production.