Why The Army’s Changed Mindset On Indigenous Technology Is A Relief indiatoday.in

The army’s record of embracing local technology leaves much to be desired Two very significant pitches for indigenously developed arms came from the highest levels of the Indian Army in the past week. Addressing a DRDO conference on October 15, army chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said the forces would fight and win the next war with homegrown solutions. Addressing the annual Defence Attaches’ conclave four days later, Vice-Chief of Army Staff Gen. M.M. Naravane said that the army would accept indigenous technology even if they didn’t meet the ‘best’ parameters. Improvements, he said, could be made later. In any other country, army officials endorsing home-grown technology would not have been a non-sequitur. But in the Indian context, these major endorsements signal a welcome shift in the thought process.

Project Beta’s hand-held or body-worn PDA would enhance a soldier’s situational awareness on the battlefield by answering three basic questions: where am I, where is the enemy, and where are my comrades?

The answers would blip on the screen of a hand-held device, rugged-proofed for military use. The device was meant to equip infantry companies (100 or more soldiers) engaged in counter-insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.