🔆Reform in defence sector

▪️Focus

✅Increasing The Share in domestic defence procurement
🔸Design Capabilities
🔸Level Playing Field
🔸Local Procurement

✅Providing Access To critical technologies
🔸 Offset Policy Enabling Access to Critical Technologies
🔸Research And Development

✅Encouraging Investments
🔸Import Embargo
🔸Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy
🔸Defence Industrial Corridors

✅Enhancing Indigenisation
🔸SRIJAN Porta
🔸Indigenisation of Components

✅Tapping The World Market
✅Harnessing Design And Development Capabilities

#defence
#prelims
#mains

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🔆Drone Rules, 2021

✅Why in news: In March 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) published the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Rules, 2021. Based on the feedback, the Government has decided to repeal the UAS Rules, 2021 and replace the same with the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021.

1. Rules have been liberalised from earlier version. Example- reduced types as well as quantum of fees, forms etc.
2. Digital sky platform shall be developed as a user-friendly single-window system. There will be minimal human interface and most permissions will be self-generated.
3. Interactive airspace map with green, yellow and red zones shall be displayed on the digital sky platform
4. No permission required for operating drones in green zones.
5. Yellow zone reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the airport perimeter.
6. Coverage of drones under Drone Rules, 2021 increased from 300 kg to 500 kg. This will cover drone taxis also.
7. No restriction on foreign ownership in Indian drone companies.
8. Drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries.
9. Safety and security features like ‘No permission – no takeoff’ (NPNT), real-time tracking beacon, geo-fencing etc. to be notified in future.
10. Nano and model drones (made for research or recreation purposes) are exempt from type certification. Importing and manufacturing drones purely for exportsare exempt from type certification.

#prelims
#defence

Source PIB

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🔆Him Drone-a-thon’ programme

✅ Why in News: Collaboration
The Indian Army in collaboration with the Drone Federation of India has launched the ‘Him Drone-a-thon’ programme.

✅Aim: Program is aimed to catalyse and provide focused opportunities to the Indian drone ecosystem to develop path-breaking drone capabilities for meeting requirements of frontline troops.
🔸The ‘Him Drone-a-thon’ programme is a pan India sustained connection between all stakeholders including industry, academia, software developers and drone product manufacturers.

▪️Significance:

✅The Indian Army said this initiative is in line with Make in India in defence manufacturing.
✅The Indian Army’s support to the indigenous drone ecosystem is based on the principle that ‘good available indigenously’ is better than the ‘best available globally’.
✅The indigenous industry has adequate expertise to develop world class products in this field.
✅India has largely prohibited import of drones and import of drone components are exempted to encourage domestic drone manufacturing. 2It is to incentivise domestic drone manufacturers and boost investments.

▪️India’s drone arsenal

✅Heron [ISRAEL]
✅Predator [USA]
✅Sea Guardian [USA]
✅Fire-Fly ‘loitering munition’ [ISRAEL]
✅Harpy and Harop loitering munition [ISRAEL]
✅Rustom – 2 [INDIA]
✅CATS Warrior [INDIA]

#defence
#prelims

PIB

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🔆Exercise AIKYA

✅Recently, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in collaboration with the Southern Command of the Indian Army organised a two-day national symposium, ‘Exercise AIKYA’, on disaster management in Chennai.
✅Aikya, meaning "Oneness" in Tamil, reflects the exercise's aim to integrate India's Disaster Management community.
✅It brought together key stakeholders from across Peninsular India to enhance disaster preparedness and response capabilities.
✅The exercise witnessed participation from six southern states/UTs: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry

#gs3
#prelims
#defence

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🔆 Exercises in News

📍 Bilateral Military Exercises
✅ Nomadic Elephant (🇮🇳 India - 🇲🇳 Mongolia) – Joint military exercise in Meghalaya.
✅ Exercise Maitree (🇮🇳 India - 🇹🇭 Thailand) – Joint army exercise in Thailand.
✅ Udara Shakti (🇮🇳 India - 🇲🇾 Malaysia) – Joint air force exercise.
✅ Mitra Shakti (🇮🇳 India - 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka) – Annual military exercise for operational proficiency.
✅ Parvat Prahar (🇮🇳 India) – Army exercise focusing on high-altitude warfare.

📍 Multilateral & Naval Exercises
✅ RIMPAC (Multiple nations, incl. 🇮🇳 India) – Largest international maritime exercise for Indo-Pacific security.
✅ Exercise Pitch Black (🇮🇳 India - 🇦🇺 Australia - Other nations) – Indian Air Force participation in Australia-led exercise.
✅ Tarang Shakti (🇮🇳 India & multiple nations) – India's first multinational air exercise for air dominance.
✅ Exercise Freedom Edge (🇰🇷 South Korea - 🇺🇸 USA - 🇯🇵 Japan) – Trilateral air exercise in Indo-Pacific.

📍 Naval & Security Exercises
✅ Exercise Sagar Kavach (🇮🇳 India) – Coastal security exercise along Andhra Pradesh coast.
✅ Maritime Partnership (🇮🇳 India - 🇷🇺 Russia) – Naval drill in MPX (Maritime Partnership Exercise).

📍 Special Operations & Space Exercises
✅ Poorvi Prahar (🇮🇳 Indian Tri-Services) – Security drill in Arunachal for intelligence & mobilization.
✅ Antariksha Abhyas (🇮🇳 Indian Defence Space Agency) – First-of-its-kind space-military integration exercise.


#security #defence

🔆 India & FATF: Securing Finances, Combating Terror Networks

📍 India’s evolving role in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) highlights its commitment to combating money laundering, terror financing & proliferation risks.

✅ FATF Membership: India became a full FATF member in 2010, enhancing its global credibility in financial security and anti-terror frameworks.
✅ 2024 Mutual Evaluation Report: Recognizes India’s robust framework for investigating terror finance, but flags challenges in proliferation financing (PF) & sanction evasion.
✅ National Risk Assessment (NRA): Periodic NRA exercises help assess ML/TF vulnerabilities and guide reforms in financial & enforcement sectors.
✅ Focus Areas:
• Better detection of PF-related sanction evasion schemes
• Strengthening of FIU-India, regulatory bodies, and cross-border intelligence sharing
✅ Good Practices:
• Use of AI-driven suspicious transaction reporting
• Tighter Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and cross-institution collaboration
✅ International Coordination: India contributes to FATF typology reports and pushes for blacklisting non-compliant jurisdictions.
✅ Strategic Goals: Financial integrity, economic stability, and geopolitical security.

📘 Source: FATF MER 2024, PIB

📝 Prelims MCQ:
With reference to the FATF, consider the following statements:
1. It is a legally binding UN body that enforces financial sanctions globally.
2. India is a full member of FATF and participates in Mutual Evaluations.
3. FATF also tracks financing of weapons proliferation.

Which of the above are correct?
A) 2 and 3 only
B) 1 and 2 only
C) 1 and 3 only
D) All of the above
Answer: A

📝 Mains GS3 Question:
FATF has emerged as a key global watchdog on illicit finance. Evaluate India’s performance in implementing FATF recommendations and its challenges in curbing proliferation financing.

#GS3 #FATF #MoneyLaundering #TerrorFunding #FinancialSecurity
#defence #internal_security #security

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🔆 INS Androth Commissioned

✅ Location: Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam
✅ Type: 2nd Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) after INS Arnala
✅ Builder: GRSE, Kolkata (part of 8-vessel ASW-SWC series)
✅ Named After: Androth Island, northernmost in Lakshadweep

#Defence #cse

🔆 Ballistic Missile vs Cruise Missile

📍 Ballistic Missile
✅ Follows a ballistic trajectory after initial launch.
✅ Propelled only during the initial phase; later motion depends on gravity, air resistance and Earth’s rotation.
✅ Short-range ballistic missiles remain within atmosphere, while long-range missiles may travel outside it.
✅ Usually faster and used for long-distance strikes.

📍 Cruise Missile
✅ Remains guided throughout most of its flight.
✅ Flies within the atmosphere at low altitude.
✅ Powered continuously by jet/ramjet engine.
✅ More accurate and harder to detect due to low-altitude flight.

📍 Examples
✅ Agni-V: Long-range ballistic missile with range beyond 5,000 km.
✅ BrahMos: Supersonic cruise missile with speed around Mach 2.8.

🔆 Prelims Question

📍 Regarding Ballistic Missile and Cruise Missile, consider the following statements:
1. Ballistic missiles are jet-propelled at subsonic speeds throughout their flights, while cruise missiles are rocket-powered only in the initial phase of flight.
2. Agni-V is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile, while BrahMos is a solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

✅ A. 1 only
✅ B. 2 only
✅ C. Both 1 and 2
✅ D. Neither 1 nor 2

📍 Answer: D) Neither 1 nor 2

✅ Statement 1 is incorrect because ballistic missiles are rocket-powered only initially, while cruise missiles remain powered and guided during flight.
✅ Statement 2 is incorrect because Agni-V is a ballistic missile, whereas BrahMos is a cruise missile.

#prelims #Defence

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🔆 MQ-9B Sea Guardian: India Leases HALE Maritime Drones

📍 Why in News?
✅ India has contracted to lease 2 MQ-9B Sea Guardian HALE RPAS for the Indian Navy for ₹1,943 crore.
✅ The 30-month lease aims to strengthen Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and persistent surveillance across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
✅ Contract signed on 17 August 2026 in New Delhi with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), USA.

📍 MQ-9B Sea Guardian – Key Features
✅ Class: High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) RPAS
✅ Endurance: 35+ hours of surveillance
✅ Operating altitude: Typically 40,000–50,000 ft
✅ Primary role: Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR)
✅ Sensors: Maritime surface-search radar, EO/IR, AIS receiver and optional sonobuoys.
✅ Weapons: No weapons under the present lease.
✅ SeaGuardian vs SkyGuardian: SeaGuardian is optimised for maritime surveillance, while SkyGuardian is primarily oriented towards land surveillance.

📍 Why HALE Drones Matter for India?
✅ Enable persistent surveillance over large maritime areas without the endurance limitations of manned aircraft.
✅ Complement the Navy’s P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
✅ Strengthen monitoring of strategic chokepoints such as:
→ Strait of Hormuz
→ Bab-el-Mandeb
→ Strait of Malacca
✅ Support India’s Maritime Domain Awareness and SAGAR vision in the IOR.

📍 India–US Defence Cooperation
✅ LEMOA – 2016
✅ COMCASA – 2018
✅ BECA – 2020
✅ BECA facilitates exchange of geospatial intelligence, improving navigation and precision applications.

📍 India’s MQ-9B Journey
✅ India previously leased MQ-9B platforms during 2020–22, giving the armed forces operational experience.
✅ This experience contributed to India’s subsequent decision to pursue acquisition of 31 MQ-9B aircraft.
✅ India’s indigenous TAPAS-BH (MALE) programme remains under development, while a deployment-ready indigenous HALE capability is still absent.

📍 Strategic Significance
✅ Persistent MDA: Enhances India’s ability to monitor movements across the vast IOR.
✅ Rapid capability: Leasing provides an immediate capability while indigenous systems and long-term procurement mature.
✅ Blue-water surveillance: Particularly useful for tracking surface vessels and supporting wider maritime security operations.
✅ Net Security Provider: Strengthens India’s ability to contribute to security and stability in the IOR.

#Defence

🔆 Samarthak: Indian Navy’s First Indigenous Multi-Purpose Vessel Delivered by L&T

📍 Why in News?
🟢 The Indian Navy took delivery of Samarthak, India’s first indigenously built Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV), from Larsen & Toubro⁠’s Kattupalli shipyard on 28 August 2026.
🟢 The vessel has over 75% indigenous content, marking a significant step in naval self-reliance under Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

📍 Samarthak — At a Glance
🟢 Type: Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV)
🟢 Builder: L&T, Kattupalli Shipyard, Tamil Nadu
🟢 Indigenous content: Over 75%
🟢 Primary roles: Maritime trials and evaluation, surveillance and reconnaissance, offshore patrolling, and HADR support
🟢 Name meaning: Samarthak — “The Enabler” or “The Proponent”

📍 Strategic Significance
🟢 Supports the trial and evaluation of indigenous weapons, sensors and naval systems.
🟢 Enhances the Navy’s HADR and maritime support capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region.
🟢 Demonstrates the growing role of the private sector in India’s defence shipbuilding ecosystem.
🟢 Reduces dependence on imported specialist vessels and associated supply chains.

📍 Indigenisation Milestones
🟢 INS Nilgiri (1972): India’s first indigenously designed warship.
🟢 Delhi-class and Shivalik-class programmes: Progressive increase in indigenous capabilities.
🟢 INS Vikrant (2022): India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier.
🟢 Samarthak (2026): Expands indigenous shipbuilding into the multi-purpose vessel category.

📍 Challenges Ahead
🟢 High indigenous content does not necessarily imply complete Indian design and IPR ownership.
🟢 Private shipyards require a steady order pipeline to sustain skilled manpower and infrastructure.
🟢 The next challenge is moving from import substitution to genuine technological self-reliance.

📍 Prelims Pointers
🟢 MPV: A flexible platform for multiple roles such as trials, surveillance, patrolling and HADR.
🟢 HADR: Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.
🟢 IDDM: Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured — the most preferred procurement category under DAP 2020.
🟢 DAP 2020: Gives priority to indigenous design and manufacturing in defence procurement.

🎯 Mains Application:
India’s naval indigenisation must evolve from higher domestic content towards indigenous design, critical technology ownership and sustainable private-sector capacity.

✎ MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION
“India’s defence indigenisation programme has achieved symbolic milestones but faces structural challenges in transitioning from import substitution to genuine technological self-reliance.” Examine in the context of recent naval shipbuilding achievements.
15 marks · 250 words

#Defence

🔆 Defence Acquisition Council Clears Capital Acquisition Proposals Worth ₹1.10 Lakh Crore

📍 Why in News?
🟢 The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by the Raksha Mantri, granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for defence acquisitions worth about ₹1.10 lakh crore.
🟢 Around 98% of the procurement value is planned to be sourced from Indian industry.

📍 Key Acquisitions

🟢 Army: CBRN Reconnaissance Vehicles, High Mobility Vehicles, Self-Propelled Mechanical Mine Layers, Advanced Light Helicopters, Trawl Tanks and Sarvatra Bridge System.
🟢 Navy: Arudhra Radars and design & development of indigenous Marine Gas Turbines (MGTs) for warship propulsion.
🟢 Air Force: Upgrades for fighters, transport aircraft and helicopters; Ground-Based Multi-Purpose Jammers (GBMPJ) and RFID-based DEFSAC smart-card access system.

📍 Acceptance of Necessity (AoN)
🟢 AoN is the first, in-principle stage of the capital acquisition process under Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.
🟢 It is not a signed contract; subsequent stages include Request for Proposal → Trials & Evaluation → Contract Negotiation → Contract Signing → Delivery/Induction.

📍 Significance
🟢 Strengthens Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence procurement.
🟢 Promotes domestic defence industry and reduces dependence on foreign suppliers.
🟢 Enhances capabilities across all three armed forces.
🟢 Indigenous development of Marine Gas Turbines can reduce dependence on foreign vendors for critical propulsion technology.

📍 Key Challenges
🟢 AoN value does not automatically translate into contracts or timely induction; procurement can take years.
🟢 The 98% indigenous figure refers to procurement value, while critical subsystems and technologies may still involve import dependence.
🟢 Indigenous MGTs are still at the design-and-development stage, indicating continuing near-term dependence on imports.

📌 UPSC Mains Model Question

Q. “Acceptance of Necessity is only the first step in India’s defence capital acquisition process.” Discuss the stages that follow and the challenges in translating AoN clearances into actual capability induction. (15 marks, 250 words)

🟢 Introduction: AoN is the first, in-principle administrative approval under DAP 2020 and does not constitute a procurement contract.

🟢 Stages: RFP → trials & evaluation → contract negotiation → contract signing → delivery and induction.

🟢 Challenges: Prolonged procurement timelines, delays in trials and negotiations, technology/import dependence, limited indigenous critical-subsystem capability and the gap between sanctioned AoN value and actual contracts.

🟢 Conclusion: Faster procurement while deepening indigenous R&D, critical technologies and domestic manufacturing is essential to convert AoN clearances into effective military capability.

#Defence