Defence Research and Development Organisation – UPSC

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

DRDO works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India.

It is working to establish world-class science and technology base for India and provides our Defence Services decisive edge by equipping them with internationally competitive systems and solutions.

Genesis & Growth

• DRDO was established in 1958 after combining Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO).
• Starting with 10 laboratories, DRDO has now grown to a network of 52 laboratories which are deeply engaged in developing defense technologies covering various disciplines, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, engineering systems, instrumentation, missiles, advanced computing and simulation, special materials, naval systems, life sciences, training, information systems, and agriculture.
• Presently, the Organisation is backed by over 5000 scientists and about 25,000 other scientific, technical, and supporting personnel.
• Several major projects for the development of missiles, armaments, light combat aircraft, radars, electronic warfare systems, etc are on hand and significant achievements have already been made in several such technologies.

Mission

• Design, develop, and lead to the production of state-of-the-art sensors, weapon systems, platforms, and allied equipment for our Defence Services.
• Provide technological solutions to the Services to optimize combat effectiveness and to promote the well-being of the troops.
• Develop infrastructure and committed quality manpower and build a strong indigenous technology base.

Defence Space Research Agency

The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister has cleared the setting up of this new agency called the Defence Space Research Agency (DSRO) which has been entrusted with the task of creating space warfare weapon systems and technologies.

• The agency would be provided with a team of scientists who would be working in close coordination with the tri-services integrated defense staff officers.
• The agency would be providing the research and development support to the Defence Space Agency (DSA) which comprises members of the three services.
• The DSA has been created to help the country fight wars in space.
• The Defence Space Agency is being set up in Bengaluru under an Air Vice Marshal-rank officer and will gradually take over the space-related capabilities of the three forces.
• India’s existing military space agencies — including the Defence Imagery Processing and Analysis Centre, located in New Delhi, and the Defence Satellite Control Centre, located in Bhopal — will be merged with DSA.

Defense Acquisition Organization (DAO)

In an effort to make the procurement process more effective and accountable and secure defense procurement system and realize the ‘Make in India‘ move, the Indian MoD is also planning to have a separate body for defense procurement.

The Defence Acquisition organization as recommended by Pritam Singh Committee, to be a new autonomous organization created under the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to deal with the procurement of the Armed Forces.

It will function within the defense ministry and will be in charge of formulating policy, planning, and executing weapons purchases for the Armed Forces.

The motive is to create an organization that will not fall under the ambit of normal rules of the government. To make the organization autonomous, it would be funded with a certain percentage of the funds that it utilizes every financial year. In the first year, the amount would be approximately Rs 400 crore.

Principles and Organizational Structure

Basic guiding principles suggested for its functioning to be an autonomous, decentralized decision-making defense procurement organization(DPO) with accountability and transparency with a manage delivery within the agreed PTCR (Performance, Cost, Time, and Risk) envelope as per the annual acquisition plans based on:

• Risk management rather than risk avoidance
• Individual rather than group accountability.
• A quarterly measure of performance with the internal customers (Army, Navy, Air Force)
• The process should be differentiated into three broad steps with autonomy and accountability.
• Technical requirements identification.

Nuclear Command Authority

The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) of India is the authority responsible for command, control and operational decisions regarding India’s nuclear weapons programme.

On 4 January 2003, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) constituted the Political Council and the Executive Council of the NCA. The Executive Council gives its opinion to the Political Council, which authorises a nuclear attack when deemed necessary. While the Executive Council is chaired by the National Security Advisor (NSA), the Political Council is chaired by the Prime Minister.

This mechanism was implemented to ensure that Indian nukes remain firmly in civilian control and that there exists a sophisticated Command and Control (C2) mechanism to prevent their accidental or unauthorised use.

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, forms part of India’s Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and administration of the country’s tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.[

The directives of the NCA are to be operationalized by the Strategic Forces Command under the control of a Commander-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal (or its equivalent) in charge of the management and administration of the tactical and strategic nuclear forces.

The Defence Planning Committee was notified by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in April 2018, the National Security Adviser (NSA) was appointed as the chairperson of the committee, with the chairperson, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of the Army Staff, Chief of the Air Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff, and expenditure secretaries of Ministry of Finance being its members and the chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS) being its member-secretary,[2][3][4] the NSA was also given the mandate to co-opt members as they see fit.

According to the notification issued by the Indian Government the DPC will have several mandates namely to

1. Prepare a draft National Security Strategy.
2. Develop a capability development plan.
3. Work on defence diplomacy issues.
4. Improving the defence manufacturing ecosystem in India

The Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces (CDS) is the head of the military staff of the Indian Armed Forces and the chief executive of the Department of Military Affairs. As the highest-ranking serving officer in the Indian Armed Forces, the CDS is the commanding officer and chairperson of the Joint Commanders and Staff Committee – making him the chief military adviser to the government of India and the Ministry of Defence. As the professional head of the armed forces, the Chief of Defence Staff is also aided by the newly formed office of Vice Chief of Defence Staff, the nation’s second highest ranking military officer, and the three chiefs of staff of the army, navy and air force, who are the leaders of each respective branch. The first and current CDS is General Bipin Rawat, who took office on 1 January 2020

The CDS is a four-star officer selected from among the serving officers of the Indian Armed Forces. While being “first among equals” among the service chiefs, the CDS is a single-point military advisor to the defence minister. The CDS is assisted by a deputy, the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff. The CDS heads the Department of Military Affairs under the Ministry of Defence, as its secretary. Apart from heading the DMA, the CDS is the Permanent Chairperson of the Chiefs of Staff Committee

Chief of Defence Staff is a critical position in today’s era of hybrid warfare, and will help increase coordination, tri-service effectiveness and integrate overall combat capabilities of Indian armed forces. The Defence Secretary, a civil servant, remains as the main defence adviser, whilst the CDS has been sanctioned the role of being the main military adviser, acting as the single-point military adviser to the government and Defence Minister. India was the only large democracy which did not have a single point military advisor; with all P5 countries having one.