5 - MCF in India

Summary

Increasing the defense industry’s efficiency and equipping the armed forces with the most suitable weapons to meet their missions is often the main goal behind a country’s efforts to enhance civil–military integration. This is not necessarily the case for India, though. Equally, or even more important, is the pursuit of military self-sufficiency and the acquisition of a world-level military R&D and production capacity. Arguably, civil–military integration serves both ends. The growing interest of the Indian military in emerging technologies and the existence of a relatively strong civilian IT industry in India reinforce this logic and clear the way to military–civil fusion. However, the dual demands of equipping the forces with suitable armaments and strengthening India’s military self-sufficiency can be contradictory. This reality, coupled with low and occasionally inefficient national investments in defense R&D, has confronted India’s MCF with multiple difficulties. Aware of this situation, India has taken various measures to expand private industries’ participation in military procurement. Yet, the forces that work in favor and against India’s MCF are still at odds.